Chapter 837: 837-Lost The Body
Helanie:
"Norman!" I screamed as I watched him, his body drop and lie flat. He was barely breathing. I placed my hand on his heart and realized there was only one beat that was strong. The others were fading quickly.
I had no time to wait for Kaye. I didn’t need to. I rolled him over, grabbed his arm, and tossed him over my shoulder. He was a little too big for me to carry, but I was going to cover half the distance and not let him die here.
I began dragging him, though his legs on the ground were becoming a hurdle. There was only one way I could manage it. I put him down again and transitioned, letting Cora carry him on her back. Once she had him, she began to run, sprinting.
Halfway through, I came across a big wolf and I stopped. It was Kaye. He met up with me, and we started running toward the well of sacrifice in silence. We needed to make sure Maximus had tossed her in time and didn’t get distracted.
Just as we suspected, we came across Zharns circling Maximus. He was howling, clawing, and hitting them. Cora and I sprang into action. Norman was left behind in the bushes. Both Kaye and I sprinted toward the Zharns. I jumped, biting one on the back of the neck, and when I landed, I shook it by the neck, growling. Once I let go, it was dead. Then I attacked the other.
Kaye was doing the same, but Maximus was starting to get very anxious. This always happened whenever I had too many mates around. At that moment, I couldn’t ask Kaye to take Norman away. Where would he go? We had to make sure we were right next to Maximus so he could toss Charlotte over.
But at that moment, I realized Maximus had lost her body. I began to panic. I had no option but to transition back. Once I did, I began to breathe heavily.
"Kaye, he’s lost the body!" I screamed.
Kaye began to return from his wolf form. We were both in our undies at this point, and the cold wind hit us hard. Kaye was in his shorts.
"I’m going to take Norman to the hospital," Kaye said in a broken tone. It seemed like our best option, to get him medical care.
"Please," I uttered, a tear rolling down my cheek. I had to stay behind because it was easier for Kaye to carry Norman, and I was the only one who could make Maximus listen to me. While I stood there, I watched Kaye carry Norman on his back and rush to the hospital, trying to keep him from fading.
I had to contact anyone at the mansion to locate Charlotte’s body. As for Maximus, he was fighting the Zharns. Kaye had left his phone when he transitioned, so I grabbed it and rushed to find a signal. We were deep in the woods. I kept one eye on Maximus. I wasn’t afraid of him losing to the Zharns, but I was afraid of losing Maximus. If he ran away again, it would take too long to find him.
"Hello, Lamar, where are you?" I asked, panicking.
"We’re parading in front of the mansion," he replied.
"Please, I’m going to give you directions to an area. Come there as soon as possible and bring whoever you can. We’ve lost Charlotte’s body," I explained.
"Wait, wait. Charlotte is dead?" Lamar asked. "Does that mean another curse is broken?"
"Lamar, did you not hear me? We’ve lost her body," I said. As soon as I said it, I realized he had stopped celebrating.
"Just come over here. You’ll know everything. Norman is in the hospital," I added, struggling to get all the information out.
"Wait... okay, Helanie, calm down. We’re coming there. We’ll find her body. Don’t worry," Lamar said, cutting the call.
I knelt down and took a few deep breaths before going back to fight the remaining Zharns. Only three were left. I didn’t even transition. I clawed and killed two of them at once. Maximus tore open the last one from the middle.
Now, it was just the two of us, staring at each other, breathing heavily. I rushed at him and placed my hands on his hairy chest.
"Maximus, where is Charlotte?" I asked.
I wasn’t even scared of him, and it seemed to spook him so he stepped back.
"Come on, Maximus, it’s not the time to be afraid of me. You know I will never harm you. But you need to tell me where Charlotte’s body is. We need her," I begged, tears filling my eyes as I stared at him.
He growled and turned, almost as if trying to help. Then frustration hit him, and he let out a loud howl. I realized he really didn’t know.
"It’s okay, it’s okay. You need to calm down. We will find it, okay?" I said, gently touching his fur. I noticed he began to calm down. As long as he stayed steady, we were going to be fine. The only sad part was that we had no idea how long Norman had, and just thinking about it was killing me.
Soon Lamar, Penn, Sage, and Jenny arrived. They had brought clothes for me. I quickly changed into the pants and shirt before we began retracing our steps. My friends couldn’t get too close to Maximus because the minute they showed up, he started howling and panicking. They had to go on ahead while I stayed with him, keeping him in sight.
After a while, I heard Lamar yell, and I knew they were coming back.
"We found her," he said, and I smiled widely.
"You did?" I asked, getting up from the ground and reaching toward him. Penn was dragging her dead body. As soon as Maximus saw it, he howled, grabbed a piece of wood from the side, and tossed it over Lamar, whose eyes widened.
"Just leave the body and go back to fight the Zharns," I said, trying to warn them that Maximus was getting anxious again. They obeyed, and then Maximus rushed toward the body. I made sure to stay with him and watched as he tossed the body into the well.