Chapter 10: The Dreamcatcher Girl

Taos Box, New Mexico

CALEB

The echoing roar of water filled my ears, flashing into my mind memories of my first life, of my human life. The breathtaking chasm of rugged basalt cliffs looked the same under the moonlight. I'd been here before, during a rafting trip a long time ago. I remembered the intoxicating sensation of the swift rapids rushing through the most beautiful part of the river, and the cries of ravens, falcons and eagles. But I couldn't hear them now. The river was the only thing awake in these moonlit shadows.

"It makes you feel like you're on National Geographic Explorer," Nick said with a remarkably funny Swedish accent. "Without the sunny part, of course." He brushed his fingers through the long white-blond spikes on the top of his head. That hair just couldn't stay down.

"It's one of the primary whitewater rafting zones around here," I said, throwing a small rock into the running water. "Once you ride them, you get addicted."

"Man, I wish I could try it sometime. You're one lucky skitstövel, Caleb." Nick told me, choosing his mother tongue to call me bastard.

We didn't go out much in the sun. Our modus operandi was mostly by night, so I understood Nick's frustration. But we both knew the reason for this night-leading life, and it was far more important than our stupid desires. Without the black dyeing the skies, Balthazar's presence and guidance wouldn't be possible. We needed our father as he needed us.

"We'll do it someday, Nick," I said with a smile in my voice. It was the kind of thing people liked to hear, and I wanted to believe in the possibility as well. Perhaps someday, after getting done with all of this, we could go on a road trip across America, my country. Nick would love that, I thought with a smile. He liked it here better than the old continent. That's why he hadn't made any objections to the American nickname I'd given him. Nicolai sounded way too long and he yearned for something simpler.

"Right. Well, in the meantime," he said, sitting on a huge bulky rock beside the river. "Bring me káffe, would you?"

"You mean...coffee?" I raised my eyebrows. I knew what the word meant using common sense, but I also knew that Nick hated being translated. He felt he was being corrected-insulting for a person who spoke English better than his own language. I knew he used Swedish words every now and then for the sake of "recalling" his roots, but I loved to play with his temper.

"Ja." Nick nodded rolling his eyes, clearly annoyed.

I swallowed back a smile. "You know I would do the run, but we can't go into town. It's kind of Gavran's territory at the moment."

"Det stämmer."

"Whatever that means."

He laughed. "För mycket?"

I could see he was trying to piss me off, which was paying results. "Okay, stop the Swedish word parade."

"Jävla dum." Nick shook his head amused.

"Hey!" I barked. I knew those words pretty well. Cursing was always easier to learn in foreign languages. "There's no need to call me 'fucking stupid'." Even if I felt stupid when he spoke Swedish. I'd hate to imagine what being around Chinese people felt like.

"Girls," Ben called us, cutting our banter. "It's a lovely chitchat, really. Very instructive and cultural, but could you please-" he bit off half a bar of Snickers-"shut the hell up!" He said with a big chunk of chocolate in his mouth. The words hadn't come out clearly, but he'd delivered the message quite expressively. Not a good image to remember.

"They're just hungry, Ben," Massimo said. He was lying flatly on a grassy area between two bushes, with his arms folded behind his head. "Give them something to eat, chips or whatever."

"Nothing left," Ben told him, chewing the last half of his chocolate. "What we all need is a damn good meal, one high in protein."

"Gavran is on his way. The last time we talked he was in the car with the girl," I said. "We just need to wait a couple more minutes."

Massimo suddenly rose and took a deep sniff. "Not anymore," he said, smiling wickedly. Everyone could smell the girl, too. Gavran was near.

Oh the scent, I thought. There was nothing more wonderful than the scent of a human-especially a girl. The sweetness hit my nose with awesome strength, burning my mouth like fire, twisting my stomach with need. In that instant, I was nothing close to the human I'd once been. I was a predator, waiting for my victim.

"Gavran found her at the Bed and Breakfast, right? She's the receptionist?" Nick asked, his mouth watering, imagining her taste. And by the fierce and expectant looks on everyone's faces, she wasn't going to last long.

"Yeah, at the Dreamcatcher. He went there after finding out some information on the Keeper at a small church," I answered, hearing the expectation in my own voice. "Apparently she drew some attention when she asked to use the confessional."

"Lucky us," Nicolai added. "Tack och lov."

"Cut the Swedish bullcrap, Nick," I hissed.

"Sorry," he said, amused. "I meant 'Thank God'. Don't get too bitchy, Caleb."

I was about to retort back with some good English, but stopped when the corner of my eye caught a blurring shadow. Booted feet knocked the ground with a heavy thump a second later, raising a high cloud of dirt around. The scent was rich and powerful, swirling hot in the black air.

The cloud cleared and Gavran appeared in the middle, standing with a young girl in his arms. She was about my age, nineteen or so. Her mouth was covered by his big hand and her eyes were full of dread. She could sense what was about to happen, and after jumping from the top of a never-ending cliff, I understood her shock. She was supposed to be dead, her bones broken and head cracked, but here she was, trapped in the arms of a man who'd offered her the world, surrounded by strangers dressed as the night itself.

For a moment, I even felt sorry for her, sorry for how short her human life was going to be, sorry for the sharp emotions beating under her skin, sorry for how cruelly her body was going to be treated, and mostly, sorry for the people she was leaving behind-her family.

The last thought cut my heart with sharp precision. I knew how important a family was. I knew the lack of one drowned you in misery and solitude. In my human years, I'd always been alone, wandering through lame jobs, moving from town to town, sleeping in deplorable places...until a few years ago. I had what I've always dreamed of now: a family and a father's will to respect.

So I couldn't feel sorry for this girl, the one who was finally going to lead us to our goal. No. She belonged here. This was her place.

"If you promise not to scream and run away, I'll let you go." Gavran told her in a soft voice, the one he normally used to entice women. By the way her body seemed paralyzed though, she didn't need to be warned. She wasn't going anywhere.

The girl nodded nervously and Gavran released her, taking a step back to join our circle, leaving her at the center. She looked around in trepidation, her chest moving up and down, the fear in her eyes gleaming wildly. "You lied to me," she said to Gavran after a hard swallow. "You don't love me and...and...you're not...human," she said, terrified.

"Love at first sight?" Gavran's smile was full of mockery. "Sweetheart, there's no such thing, only convenience. And of course I'm not human. I'm better. We're better." He waved his eyes around us.

Tears slid down her cheeks. "I'm of no use to you," she said pleadingly. "Just let me go, please. I'll never tell anybody."

Gavran smirked. "Do you think all these insufferable hours of sweet talk with you were for nothing? Oh no, you're of great use to us, and the fact that you're still breathing proves it."

The girl was crying now, deep sobs shaking her body. "Please, I beg you. My mom depends on me. She's sick. Please."

I had to fight the sudden urge to reach out to her and comfort her. I couldn't stop feeling sad and remorseful for the young human. All this time of watching endless moments of begging and crying hadn't hardened my heart enough. Why? I didn't understand. This was part of our nature, of what we were-the savage side needing to be fulfilled. I should've felt at ease like the others.

"The old woman you took to the church," Gavran continued, cold-blooded. "Where does she live?"

The question took her by surprise. "Who?"

"One of your most memorable guests at the Dreamcatcher. You told me she invited you to visit her. Where?"

She hesitated, a very wrong thing to do. "It was a couple of years ago. I don't remember."

"Don't make me go over there and make you. I'm too tired to be patient now, so you better start talking-fast."

She hesitated once more, but when Gavran gave her a deep growl, the words exploded from her mouth. "Ruidoso! She lives in Ruidoso! Oh God, let me go!" she begged in total despair. "I'm not useful anymore. Please!"

Gavran smiled that wicked smile of his. "Wrong again."

The girl looked around and screamed, then fixed her eyes on me, the only one who hadn't transformed yet. I just couldn't, my heart wasn't in it.

"She's all yours," Gavran told us. "I already had my meal. Enjoy."

A last scream fired up from her mouth and then...silence. Only sharp cracking noises of bones being split echoing through the cliffs. I pressed my eyes shut and, against my heart, finally changed and shoved forward to the corpse, shattered.