Free Wolves among men by penelope sweet Page B

long time ago. I
was just a boy but it was enough to convince me that the tales of
our tribe weren’t exactly fairy tales.”
     
    “ What like skin walkers
and things like that?” his lips curled up in a slight smile at the
mention of the word.
     
    “ Yes, among other things.
How do you know about skin walkers?”
     
    “ Something Cordillia told
me.” I smiled. “She said that this tribe, your tribe,” I corrected
myself. “They had legends of things called skin walkers and she
thought that maybe someone here might know something that could
help us.” He chuckled lightly as he reached over to a small table
and pulled a cigarette from a nearly empty pack. I followed his
lead and leaned back in my chair as I filled the air around us with
a cloud of thick blue smoke.
     
    “ Well your sister was
right Ethan; we do have a lot of legends.” He smiled.
     
    “ Okay so tell me about
skin walkers.” I asked enthusiastically. He shook his head as he
took a deep pull from his cigarette. “Why not?”
     
    “ Because it won’t help
you.” He chuckled. “Do you know what a skin walker is?” I shook my
head. “A skin walker is a witch that can willingly change its shape
into the animal it chooses, can you change into a bird?” I shook my
head and smirked. “A fox? A bear?”
     
    “ No.”
     
    “ Did you choose
this?”
     
    “ No.”
     
    “ Are you a witch?” I
laughed loudly as a smile crossed his lips.
     
    “ No.”
     
    “ Then it won’t help
you.”
     
    “ Okay, so what am I?” He
sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep pull
from his cigarette as he looked at me thoughtfully.
     
    “ You know what you are,
Ethan,” he spoke quietly and I shook my head.
     
    “ No I don’t.”
     
    “ Yes you do,” he argued.
“You’re Ethan Harlow, you told me yourself.” I shook my head again
as a frustrated grin crossed my face. “Just because there is now
more to you doesn’t mean that you are any different than you were
before.” I thought carefully about what he said. In a way he was
right but I still couldn’t hold to the idea that I was the same man
as I was before. We sat in silence for a long while, allowing the
world around us to simply exist as we listened to the soft cries
and shrieks that came from the other room. I wanted to comfort her,
to wake her from her nightmare but Robert simply shook his head
every time the thought crossed my mind.
     
    “ When can I see her?” I
pleaded quietly.
     
    “ When the dreams have
passed, she needs time, Ethan.” I nodded and sighed heavily. He
looked up as the last rays of the sun crossed over the horizon
leaving us in darkness and stood from his chair as the howling of
wolves somewhere in the distance filled the air around us. “Come
with me.” He offered as he pulled open the screen door and held it
still for me. I took one last look out at the woods before sighing
heavily and standing from my chair.
     
    Following him into the tiny cabin, I
watched absently as he changed Cordillia’s rag, wishing and praying
that she would just snap out of it but I never was so lucky. It
wasn’t long before the nightmares started again and I could see
them twisting her face as Robert stood from her side and walked
over to me.
     
    “ Your sister will be
fine,” he spoke quietly as he led me out of the living room and
down a narrow hallway. He pushed open a solid oak door to my left
and ushered me inside. “Try and get some sleep.” I nodded absently
and turned toward the small bed, eager to put the day behind me as
he closed the door and left me alone with my thoughts. I threw
myself down on the bed without a second thought and closed my eyes,
burying my head underneath a small pillow as her scattered shrieks
filled the air of the tiny cabin once again. Like some kind of
morbid lullaby the last thing I remember was her voice crying out
to me before the deep dark hold of sleep pulled me into
nothingness.
     
    Normally people look