REIGN OF THE HYBRID; RULER OF ADVERSITY

He was fed up, it had to come to an end that evening. The brutality and disrespect from his peers, hate from his guardians and the constant reminder of self that he was weak at heart, helpless and vulnerable to every bad thing the world could offer. For the first time Leon felt like the burden was threatening to pop out his shoulder blades, he missed his parents so much. They had died in a road accident two years back leaving his Uncle Rob lindloff as the only family left. Leon had moved in to stay with the childless couple in skyview and for some reason or another they were insatiable. Nothing he did was good enough to soften their pharaoh hearts. It was ironical, for a couple that was childless after more than twenty years of marriage Leon thought they would have appreciated a second shot at parenthood, perhaps their children free marriage was out of free will, nothing to do with their bareness or sterility and now their dark cloud had managed to push him to the edge, lonely and scared with an eroded self-esteem courtesy of his school mates who called him names, shut him out like an outcast, a social misfit and a laughing stock. Nothing felt more relieving than death, peaceful sleep of eternity with no one to stifle his very existence. It was a calm clear moonless night with a strange eerie sound. Owls were squeaking happily enjoying the calm that comes with the darkness of the night. He was not surprised, skyview was a town of super naturals and perverse events; owls, bats and even wolves had been reported in skyview forest. The rumors of advanced humans living among them were spreading in the small town like a wildfire. But that was not his worry, he was dying anyway let the rumors spread. Leon was walking aimlessly in skyview forest all alone, around 11 pm as per his wrist watch. The wind was howling brushing past his flappy ears making them cold, it was talking to him in a bizarre way, the voice of his parents telling him to reconsider his motives. Of course he did not believe it, the forest had a history of real decoys and there was a snowballs chance in hell the voice in the wind was among the many he was going to face. He walked past the small hills and ridges, his hands tucked in the side pockets of his black hoodie which was perfectly covering his upper extremity, a black trouser and matching black boots. The reason he chose to go through all that trouble was to prove himself ready for death that he was not afraid and it was working. Only a few meters away from River dingoes where he was planning to drawn his lifeless body after taking some poison, well a bottle full of it secure in his hind pocket. Suicide never occurred to him as a key to freedom, Eloping did but something kept him there with the lindloff's. They were his only family and loved them at heart, running away could have scared them or made them feel and look like sadistic, selfish guardians because there was nowhere he could go without being found. But death was great, no turning back to be ridiculed on how reckless he was, in fact he was making their life easier some few dollars in his parents account were not enough to cater for his final farewell that’s why he was drowning himself immediately after taking the poison. And the best part of it all was the fact that he was going to meet his parents and reunite their family again. He could already imagine how happy they would be to see him. It explains why he ignored the voice in the wind. The water was rippling loudly in a waterfall down the river, the wind had stopped. He could only feel his heartbeat and the water, crickets chirping and distant howls. Tears welled up his eyes, with a bottle of poison in his hand Leon turned around to ensure no one was seeing him. He did not want to be saved, not when he was going to be free from all the trouble he had gone through since the demise of his parents. He opened the bottle wiping tears, his heart beat was escalating rapidly, sweat and tears trickling on his face. May be he was scared after all, fear was not just in the mind. It was real and there with him, a twig broke in the nearby bush startling him. Leon almost dropped his ticket to freedom. "Who's there?” He asked looking around in fear. It was dead quiet though he could see the twigs were shaking, someone or something was certainly tailing him. "Come out you coward!” He shouted. Again it was quiet, he thought it must have been the rare forest itself. "Whoever you're it’s too late I've made up my mind sorry not even God can save me right now", He added and turned around to look at the flowing river. With his head raised up in the sky, his left arm across his chest. Leon said his last words to no one but himself, a poem to honor the only companion he had while struggling to fit in, the art of poetry his favorite language. I tried my best to make those around me happy, But my best was not enough, never enough, With me gone you’ll be happy, celebrate and laugh, Am sorry to any creature that will miss me, I got somewhere to be, With my family, Where I'll be pampered like a lily, Goodbye. Leon took one last deep breath with his eyes shut and galloped the whole bottle of poison in his belly. At first he felt nothing, perhaps someone had switched the bottle, but who? Then his stomach started rumbling, his eyes felt heavy and blurry. His head spinning and he couldn’t feel his legs. Leon collapsed at the river bed, groaning in pain. Death was not that easy as he expected, nothing is. And that auspicious moment he remembered Murphy’s Law; nothing is easy as it looks; everything takes longer than you expect, and if anything can go wrong, it will and at the worst possible moment. He tried to cough but no sound came out, his heartbeat was faint and his pupils dilated yet he could see nothing, feel nothing and the it was all dark. The weak pebbles supporting him also gave up on him, Leon drowned. ****** She couldn't tell how far in the strange unknown woods she was. Aubrey had been running for almost thirty minutes nonstop, crying and scared as she felt every soul of her pack get vanquished by their enemies who paid them an impromptu visit, a raid to be exact. The conflict between the two packs had been building up for centuries and they let their guard down, overlooked their enemies as weak and fragile until they attacked them and painted their claws with the blood of her own pack. When she left, her parents the Luna and Alpha were still alive and she was hoping it remained so but after running for a long time she lost their scent and their special mind link wasn’t working anymore. Yet she couldn't turn back and save them because her mum had ordered her to run like the wind and never look back no matter what. She felt like a traitor, a coward running away from a fight. Giving up on them when they needed her the most, at an hour of need. "Live to fight another day, go to skyview there's a friend there" she remembered her mother’s voice as she ran through the bushes in her wolf form, it was faster and she could capture the scents of any humans around, listen to sounds meters away. The night was dark cold and quiet, she could hear wolves howling deep in the forests, howls of freedom after hiding in human form the whole day, controlling their thirst for violence and feigning weakness when they could slay dozens of them in minutes. Aubrey felt safe, skyview was known to harbor many undiscovered supernatural like her she was hoping it would be safer than her own home. When she was convinced no one was following her, Aubrey decided to rehydrate in river dingoes and rest. She was very exhausted with less energy to sustain a morph into human so she took sanctuary in the nearby bush to recollect her thoughts that were banging loud in hear head and come into terms with her vulnerable situation. She lay there and wept for her loved ones with a lamenting howl, quiet enough not to capture the attention. Her ears hang in shame, if she was in human form she could have screamed out loud enough to awaken the dead. It felt like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest and for the first time she thought of taking her own life. Such an easy way out, but how? The last time she checked she was somehow immortal, super-fast with night vision and stronger than any college freshman of her age. Her wounds healed faster and she could smell and hear anyone meters away. Suicide was not an option, Aubrey had to take the bull by its horns and start afresh like her mother suggested. Join college, make new friends and live like the wolf side was nonexistent until the full moon. Ignoring her wolf was not that easy but since it was her mother’s dying wish she was going to try and make her proud. Both physical and mental exhaustion consumed her into involuntary sleep, that latter was threatening to shatter her little wolf head into pieces so she morphed into human and managed to catch some sleep despite being naked and the cold, desperation brings courage. While sleeping she got drawn to the sweven world. In her dream, it was raining blood and she was standing in the porch of their pack house, bodies covered with blood sprawling everywhere. Most of them familiar to her some were not. Aubrey crawled from one body to another looking for her parents, helping to shut the eyes of those who died with their eyes open whether friend or foe. She had no reason to disrespect the dead and let hatred control her like a prize when it was just weight around her neck. All of them were her kind, and whether or not they liked each other she was willing to let brotherhood prevail. Not for long though, she screamed in pain and anger on finding her parents missing. The first thought that crossed her mind was death. Nothing was going to please her more than revenge and finding her parents. On the bright side, Aubrey was sure they were alive somewhere in her vast world. They couldn't have ran, it was so unlike them to run away when the pack meant everything, it was possible they were captured as prisoners and taken somewhere safe or in s*****y, her teeth rattle don that thought. A bloody hand grabbed hers, one of her pack members was not dead yet. "Danny can you hear me? Hey look am going to save you", Aubrey assured caressing his arm. He released a hard cough sending blood splashing on Aubrey’s face. There was no time for decency so instead of wiping the blood off She held his chest trying to stop the bleeding from two silver bullets dipped in garlic that were embedded in his heart. "Am sorry I couldn't protect them", Danny coughed again, this time releasing a weak one accompanied by spots of blood. He smiled broadly and continued "But am happy you're alive, find them Aubrey promise me you will" "I promise Danny, save your breath I need you alive", Aubrey said putting pressure on his wound. "It’s too late for me, 6...34 ... Rolls cave", Danny struggled blood gushing from his mouth. He died in her arms. "Danny! Wait what does that mean... " She woke up confused. She shifted to her wolf form quickly and with ease, fur sprouting on her body a typical sign of anger. That's when she realized there was someone else in the woods, she couldn't see him clearly standing by the river, his heart beating fast. She moved to get a pellucid view when a twig creaked capturing his attention. He called her out with no response after reciting some poignant poem, Aubrey knew he was going to harm himself. She couldn't save Danny in her dream but this stranger she could. Aubrey took her time until she saw him drink something from a small bottle, something she suspected to be his ticket to the land of the dead, lucky him how she wished she could do the same. Aubrey watched him struggle, groan until he was motionless, it was not safe to engage that early even for her. When he dropped in the river, Aubrey couldn't wait anymore. She dashed to rescue his drowning body. Lucky for him the waves were pushing him to the river bank making it easier for her to grab his hand with her mouth and drag him out of the ice cold water. As an amateur she was, Aubrey accidentally bit the victim on his left hand while trying to save him. She could feel her strong carnassial teeth burying through his flesh but she was not losing anyone again, not on her watch. ***** “Find the girl only these two are remaining alive...not for long though”, the rival pack leader shouted. His pack members in their wolf form searched around their pack house, sniffing and keeping a close ear. “She is not here Don”, His beta said after morphing in human. “She must have left before we came in”, another member suggested. Kylan and Tina were beaten maimed and brutally injured left for the dead. It was amazing how their mortal coils were holding on, there was no chance they’d heal. “Load these losers and let’s go she will come after them and we eradicate the whole pack”, He bellowed wiping blood with a towel. A female figure handed him clothes which he dressed quickly and took the driver’s seat of his SUV. The other pack members also dressed, hoped in and he drove off. A trail of three other cars following him. Don had done what his great grandfather couldn’t do, he had finished a war that was building up for years and yet he was not happy, the girl was the last remaining pack member and an heir to the throne of her pack. Don was not going to rest until he had her heart in his hands no matter how long it was going to take him.