snow falls on the road.
it eddies about the tires of the transport vehicle in a swirl of bleached color, falling for an instant only to be swept up when the wind captures it to dance again. llanwyn and i are watching jeremy stalk on the hardtop from inside the cab of the truck. he's less then happy with the weather, but there is nothing he can do about it. he has his hands on his hips, never a good sign, stareing off into the great gray wash that is the night sky. a sky that only extends to the edge of the pool of light. llanwyn sighs beside me. i look over at her, the reflected glow from the headlamps illuminating her face from below, leaving it slightly sinister looking. but then, llanwyn always looks slightly sinister, at least to me. she's not what you'd call pretty, not if you've grown up looking at females without hair on their face, but she is striking, and sometimes that's better then being pretty, at least then people take you seriously. and felinoid or no, i would never take llanwyn as anyhing less then seriously. i have the scars to prove that. llanwyn scoots over to the driver's side door. rolling down the window, she pokes her head out.
"Jeremy!" he turns his head slightly to show he's listening. " We need to start up again before the roads are completely covered. Get back in the jeep." he looks out at the darkness around him before him before shaking his head at the world in general and turns to come back towards us. llanwyn watches him come, not minding or probably not even noticeing the snow that has begun to coat her hair. she is smiling, and i feel the contentment they share from even this far away.
the attack comes without warning. jeremy is there, alone, and then he is overcome with writhing bodies, claws and teeth flashing in the night. llanwyn by-passes the door altogather, vaulting out of the window in a surge of sinew and fury. the gun catches on my jacket, but i rip it out of its holster beneath my arm regardless. the cab rocks when i stand on the door jam, taking aim over the window. i curse. i can't get a clear shot from here, not with llanwyn and jeremy twisted up in the enemy. i dive out of the way when a body hurtles towards me. i roll in the snow with a nightmare incarnate, all glittering yellow fangs and cruel intent. the gun goes off with a roar, but i keep kicking out of adrenaline until the body has fallen free. i scramble to my feet, tripping myself up as i go to llanwyn and jeremy, still in front of the jeep. i get there only to find nothing to do. llanwyn has made very short work of the group that entraped her lifemate. dark blood stains the snow, giving color to its lifelessness. llanwyn kneels in the cold, checking jeremy for injury. he bats at her feebly, more through a sense of customary objection then any real protest. he's trying to stand up, but llanwyn is holding him effortlessly down until she is satisfied that he is fit to associate with the living.
"i think we should get going as fast as we can, " i say, filling the empty chamber in my gun. "they'll know where we are for sure after that." llanwyn looks up at me, pulling jeremy to his feet. jeremy winces where once he would have cursed, knowing full well that such things annoyed llanwyn to no end. he nodded.
"the sooner the better."
the transport vehicle rumbles quietly forward in the night, snow crunching under the tires. llanwyn is silent, cleaning her knives and her claws, both being clotted with blood not her own. jeremy is driving and, as usual, i am begining to nod off from the swaying motion of the jeep. i shake my head to clear it of visions. looking out the window, into the reflection of the cab. all that is left of my task force riding in between the folds in the curtian of night. me and llanwyn and jeremy, three out of twelve, going forward into disgrace because of our failure, but for now existing in companionship and understanding. the attack was not unexpected, but it was a complication i would rather have avoided. still, we are almost to our destination, and that is never a bad thing, no matter what awaits.