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Escaping

Eli

My head hurts so much, it feels like a vice is squeezing my brain out of the top of my head. When the vehicle finally stops, I hear a tailgate being lowered and then some voices discussing how to get me out of the back of the truck. Only one of the voices is familiar to me, which seems strange. Where are the others and who are these new people?

"You got it?" I hear a deep, mocking male voice say.

"I got it. It was not that difficult. Those other guys thought he was an idiot,” Skullmark says with a rich laugh. I'm one of those other guys. I also thought he was an idiot, and I'm still not completely convinced that he isn't.

“Did it give you problems?” asks the other voice. She sounds authoritative, like maybe she's an ET1 or something.

“No, thanks,” Skullmark says. “I've had enough trouble today.”

I hear a sigh from the other boy. “I meant... did the ET1 give you problems?”

"Oh no. I was out like a lightbulb the whole time,” says Skullmark. He is a genius; Now I'm sure of it.

“Can you help me get it out?” the other boy asks.

“Yes, the box has handles. However, it is heavy. "I think it's made purely of muscle," The box I'm on starts moving as the other guy accuses Skullmark of checking me out, and Skullmark says, "This isn't a library, Jimbo."

The box slides off the edge of the back of the vehicle, and I hear Jimbo, whoever he is, say, “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, huh?”

“But my ET1–”

“Your ET1 and I grew up as childhood friends. He can call me Jimbo all he wants. You call me James. You’re not Kane!”

My eyes are wide open even though it's dark in here. Jimbo–James–works for Kane! Wait–I suddenly remember that James is the name of Kane's Beta. My God! I've been kidnapped, drugged, and driven hundreds of miles away only to be taken prisoner by Kane's Beta!

But why? What could they want with me?

My box is placed on the floor, and I immediately notice that it is colder here than I am used to. I can feel it through the sides of the box. I'm not cold because I'm a shapeshifter, but a human would probably be pretty cold in this place.

They must have taken me north, towards the mountains. The only reason I can think of why they would get so upset is because they wanted to get me out of mind link range so they could get information out of me or something before I could call for help. Knowing the other Alfas, they're probably looking for me, but not in vehicles. But then I remember that Kamila was screaming when I came out of her dream. Is it possible that something has happened to him? If so, it should be the least of her worries.

"What's the plan?" Skullmark asks.

“Is he still unconscious?” James hits the side of the box, like he's going to feel it and scream.

“I should be,” Skullmark says. “We gave him ten liters of the drug to sleep.”

“Ten liters?” James shouts, and I can't help but want to shout along with him. What the hell? How come I'm not dead?

"Yeah." Skullmark laughs. “That's what they told me to do.”

"My God!" James says. “He's probably dead! “We won’t be able to find out the ET1s’ plans to take the castle if you killed him, you idiot!”

"He is not dead!" Skullmark says. “I can hear his heart beating. You can not? “He's super strong, and he just started to speed up.”

“That's my heart, idiot!” she says. “I actually can't hear his heart beating, but with any level of that drug, it should slow down his heart rate and make him very quiet. We might not be able to hear him even if he is still alive. Same thing with his breathing.”

“Well, I didn't kill him,” Skullmark says, sounding convinced. “I'm pretty sure of it.”

"Shit!" James says, and kicks my box a few more times.

An idea occurs to me. They can't tell if I'm alive or dead, so... when they open this box, they might get the impression that I'm unconscious or dead. Something tells me that the genius Skullmark was wrong in his measurement of what he gave me and it was actually ten milliliters, but I'm going to take advantage of this situation if I can.

"Do you think we should take him inside and see if he's still alive?" Skullmark asks.

"What's the damn point of taking him to the cabin if he's dead?" We could cut off his head out here and get his blood all over the snow instead of inside ET1 Kane's winter shelter. Let's get him out here and see what's going on. Then, we can decide whether to take it inside or not. If he's alive, he has to be out after that kind of injection.

“Okay,” Skullmark agrees, and I know what I have to do.

The box is completely devoid of light. It's like a damn coffin, or one of those rooms that photographers use to make sure nothing happens to their film. So when they open the box, I'm going to be tempted to react to the light, even if it's night and it's just the moon. That will give me away if I'm not careful.

I hear the sounds of a lever being used on the lid, and then, the light hits my eyes, but it seems to be dark here. It has to be at night.

The lid opens completely, and even the moonlight begins to hurt my eyes, but I remain completely still, without moving. My hands are tied. I've known that all along, but I think my feet are free.

I feel hot breath on my face and I smell garlic. -Is dead?

—Uhm...— James smells like menthol. I feel a pinch on my cheek. —Difficult to say...

It's now or never!

“RAAAAHH!” he roars as I launch myself at them, opening my eyes and blinking against the moonlight as I slam my bound hands into his head to my right and push him as far away from me as possible. Luckily, that's James, so while Skullmark is still trying to process what has happened, he headbutts him and pushes him back as well.

Jumping to my feet, I launch myself into the air and realize that it is a leather band that has my hands tied together. I know it will be difficult to change and start this in my weakened state from drugs and from lying in that box for so long, but I have to try.

Imagining my ET, I jump into the air and spread my front legs as best I can as I transform.

My face hits the icy snow hard as I fall forward in my ET form, my front paws still tied together. The leather has been torn but not completely torn. As I hear screams behind me, I use my back claw to hit the leather, and it tears, freeing my front paws so I can run away again.

A loud noise echoes in the mountains, and I increase speed. I'm literally running for my life as the source of the noise registers.

It's a firearm.

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