Black Blood

‘No sorry madam, I don’t know what that is,’ replies the man from yet another shop I’ve stumbled into. The names on the woman’s list are not only unpronounceable, they are completely impossible to find. I have visited dozens of shops but none of them can offer me an ingredient. They all called me crazy and I don’t blame them.

‘Okay, thanks for your help,’ I reply to the man before turning around and leaving the shop. I close the wooden door behind me and let my eye slide over the busy streets of the pack.

Nobody seems to pay any attention to things outside their business. Dozens of wolves in human form, maybe more, walk the streets with various items in their hands. Chickens, baskets of food, cloth and many other products are carried through the busy streets.

My courage starts to sink in. I don’t dare to visit any new shops anymore, the fear that I will be too conspicuous increases with every ″no″. My heels slide over the stone streets, hoping to find something that could help me in my search. I feel lost, searching and an idiot.

I walk through several streets without finding anything new. The shops change into small terraced houses, the streets become narrower and the roads worse. The stench of rotting food and excrement enters my nostrils here and there. You could say that I have lost my way. The more I get lost in the narrow streets the worse the conditions seem to get, the worse the people begin to look and the more the stench increases.

‘You.’ I turn around as soon as I hear a loud male voice behind me. I am standing face to face with the man I bumped into earlier when Novak and I arrived here, the man who treated his son the way Christiaan treated me. The man’s face is anything but friendly, his eyes seem to wish me death.

It is only now that I see him in front of me that I notice how he looks. His brown trousers are stained, torn and he looks too big. His shirt is in the same condition as his trousers. His brownish-grey hair is tousled and has black patches. His hands are dirty, not to mention his shoes. The man looks unkempt and dirty, he fits right in with the street scene of these narrow streets.

I look at the man, not understanding, for the reason that he spoke to me. He reduces the few metres between us by taking a step in my direction. I automatically take a step back and feel the tension rise. Everything in the man radiates that he would rather have me gone than have a pleasant conversation.

‘You meddling bitch,’ he bites me. I am all too aware that the man is a wolf and certainly stronger than me. If he tried to attack me, I would have no chance. Besides, I am in a neighbourhood where I don’t know where it is, I don’t know anyone here who could help me and I am too far away to run to a familiar place. I don’t stand a chance against this man. He takes another step in my direction, causing me to take another step back.

‘I said I was going to get you. Here we are.’ The man clenches his fists.

‘I-I don’t know what...you’re talking about,’ is my feeble defence. The man laughs mockingly as he takes another step in my direction.

‘You know very well what I am talking about. Because of you, the neighbours are after me, my son is even more disobedient than he already was. You are an intruder, a meddler and an inferior bitch.’ It shouldn’t affect me anymore after the treatment Christiaan gave me but still his words make my heart beat faster with fear. I would like to shout so many dirty words at the man, tell him he is a dirty bastard but not a single word leaves my mouth.

‘Where is that boyfriend of yours, I don’t see him anywhere.’ My way back is blocked by a pile of crates that have closed off the road. The man narrows the space between us until he is less than a metre from me and there is nothing I can do at the moment.

‘He’s not... my boyfriend.’ Of all the things I could say, this is the only one that leaves my mouth. The man laughs.

‘Not only are you a meddling bitch, you’re also a whore.’ He grabs me by the neck of my dress, pulls me towards him.

‘You know what I like to do with whores? I use them for their intended purpose.’ His stinking breath enters through my nostrils. I move my head to the side to avoid his gaze and breath.He grabs me by the chin and forces me to look at him this way. I bite my teeth together.

‘If you scream, you’ll get a slap,’ he whispers in my ear before I feel his hand slide under my dress. I am completely petrified. When I saw the man coming towards me, I did not expect this to be his intention.

I don’t do anything, I just stand there staring at the ground. His hand slides up my leg. My hands hang lifelessly next to my body, my eyes focused on the long and empty street I am standing in.

My eyes close as soon as I feel his hand sliding further up my leg. As much as I hate my reaction, I can’t do anything but this. My body does not allow me to do anything else but this. I undergo it, literally.

His filthy breath bounces against my ear as I hear him speed up. I feel dirty and weak. I close my eyes and try to transport myself to another world. I try to take my thoughts to a nice place. I don’t even care which place anymore, as long as it is away from this situation.

Why does this keep happening to me? What am I doing wrong? I don’t understand why this keeps happening to me. I do not ask for this, I do not challenge men in this way, I do not dress daringly like a whore. It almost seems as if men have collectively chosen to take me as their victim.

‘Willem! Let go of the lady!’ My eyes shoot open as soon as I hear an unfamiliar voice echoing through the alley. By now, the hand of the filthy man, whose name is apparently Willem, had reached my inner legs.

The man finally lets go of me so I take my chance and try to run past him. The man just manages to grab my arm. His hand is on me and he slaps me in the face. My cheek gets the familiar burning feeling. I don’t even lift my hand to protect my throbbing cheek. My eyes are fixed on the boy standing a few metres away from us.

His black hair is neatly styled, his brown eyes are fixed on us like two pins. His body is covered in not very smart clothing, but it is neater than Willems. He is wearing tight black trousers with a pair of shorts. He is wearing tight black trousers with a small hole here and there, a white shirt which is too big for him and which has a black stain here and there. He looks neat but as if he is doing heavy work. His muscles shine through his white shirt.

‘Get away Floris,’ Willem bites him while he holds me in a firm grip. A growl echoes from the mouth of the boy called Floris. A shiver runs down my spine at the sound I have never heard before. It sounds so animal, so powerful. The boy’s eyes turn a yellow colour as he takes a step in our direction.

‘I said, let her go,’ Floris growls. The hairs on my arms shoot up. Willems grip tightens around my upper arm. His grip is so tight it starts to hurt, though I don’t show it in any way.

‘I said, get away Floris,’ Willem repeats Floris’ threat. Floris doesn’t look up or down.Floris’s appearance shows that he is muscular but he certainly doesn’t look like a warrior. From his clothes I assume that his rank in the pack is not very high. Still, he doesn’t seem to have any fear against the, probably, stronger man holding me down.

‘You don’t stand a chance, kid,’ Willem grins. Floris laughs shyly as he takes a step in our direction.

‘Probably not no but that’s not the point here. I know you beat and abuse your son. If you don’t want the Alpha to know about that I would let go of the lady very quickly,’ Floris threatens. Willems grip tightens even more around my upper arm. This time it’s Willem who lets out a wicked laugh.

‘Because of this bitch the Alfa probably knows anyway.’ You’d expect this to upset Floris, but it doesn’t. The boy takes another step towards me. The boy takes another step in my direction.

‘What he probably doesn’t know is how you spread messages against him because you want power yourself.’ I am startled by a deep growl along my ear. Floris has clearly hit the sensitive spot with this remark.

‘I repeat myself one more time, let go of the lady.’ Slowly Willems grip on my upper arm disappears. As soon as I see the possibility to let go I run to Floris and stand behind him. Willem looks like he could attack Floris at any moment, but he doesn’t.

‘I’ll get you both,’ Willem growls before walking past us. As he makes his way past us he bares his teeth and growls. Automatically I hide myself more behind the unknown boy who just saved me.