The Hellbeast King by Stephanie Hudson
Wolf in the Shadows
After this, Smidge told me to wait, as after naming who my cousin was it seemed as though I had dropped a Draven bomb and Smidge was now panicking. She ran off, saying something about desperately needing to find her boss, and I could only hope that she did and this whole nightmare would be over soon.
However, she must have anticipated the fight on stage to go on a lot longer than it did, because far too quickly the seven champions were lapping up the cheers from the crowd. This, as they all started dragging their spoils from the fight off towards the backstage, this being the dead carcass over their small shoulders.
“Ah!” I screamed as I was spun around, to find one of the dancers that was now dressed like a sexy wolf, laugh and tell me,
“Save the screams for the stage, fleshy, as the crowd with love ‘em.” Then she snapped a pair of shackles around my wrists and started to drag me towards the stage, only pausing long enough for who I now knew was named Marcus to introduce the next act.
Now the sides of the ring had lowered, and the electricity was turned off, it was once more back to looking like a stage rather than a fight ring, which did little to ease my nerves.
“Congrats you happy, stabby, little devils you! And as for Snow White, well we can all agree it looks better without a soul of bones… enjoy your new rug, boys, you earned it!” Marcus said, now lifting a bottle of beer to salute them before taking a large swig of the brown liquid.
“Spoils of war and all that, speaking of which, this brings me to our next act and boy Georgie, you are in for a corker tonight, I can tell ya!” he said, now smirking at me over his rising bottle as he downed the rest of it before tossing it to one side, making it erupt in an explosion of glass near the crowd. Although, why they cheered at this I had no clue but it was like this guy was some kind of celebrity in here or something!
Then he threw up his cane once more before catching it and spinning it under his arm, this looked to be his signature move whilst on stage. After this he nodded towards the opening in the curtain where I was pushed to, and as a spotlight illuminated my frightened face, he used his cane to point at me before addressing the crowd once more.
“We happened to come across Little Red here…” He paused for a dramatic purpose so he could whisper the rest behind his hand as though what he was about to say was shocking,
“…Who is human.”I frowned at the crowd when they all gasped before an echo of boos and insults were being called out.
“But Little Red here obviously got lost in the woods without grandma in sight, and didn’t she know…” Again, he took another dramatic pause to whisper to his audience who were lapping up the theatrics.
“Down here there is more than one Big Bad Wolf to play with human bones!” It was at this point that everyone joined in the sickening fun and started howling at the cave’s ceiling like they were mimicking a pack of wolves. As for me, I’d had enough and chose this moment to try and break free, pulling all my weight backwards. But it was no use as the dancers started to crowd around me, pushing me from behind, laughing as they did.
As for the man behind it all, he grinned at me before continuing his game.
“So, for one night only, I give you the Devil’s Ring dancers and their new human pet, their very own Red Riding Hood… shake things up, girls!” he shouted, before dropping to curtesy as the girls all started taking to the stage, dragging me with them. Each of them were now dressed like sexy wolves, covering all their female assets with real looking fur and, had it not been for the ears and tails, I would have said they looked more like cavewomen in ruffle skirts.
They snarled and growled like kittens at the crowd, making the males wolf whistle and shout cat calls of a sexual nature to them. Oh, and boy did they seem to enjoy this, making the most of being the centre of everyone’s attention.
As for me, I was still focused on Marcus, begging him with my panicked gaze not to do this. But I knew it was pointless when he raised his head from where he was still bent at the waist and winked at me. Then he rose to his full height and nodded to someone I couldn’t see. This was when two more people emerged, adding to the act with instruments in their hands. A man dressed as a wolf who was definitely a lot less sexy and a whole lot more sinister. This was because he was wearing what looked like a suit made from an actual wolf skin, and the head part was worn as a hat making me want to gag, as it was still bloody. He carried with him an ornate Spanish guitar and as for the girl, she carried with her a violin that she soon tucked under her chin as soon as they reached the raised podium where the band obviously usually played.
A quick and furious beat began to play out as the dancers started calling out in tune with the song, and at the same time they started dancing around me in a mocking way. This fast folk fusion flamenco style of music made for a really good beat to dance to, and had I not been terrified I would have joined in. They were all kicking their legs out and tugging on the length of rope between my shackled hands that were like ornate handcuffs. This meant that I was pulled one way and then yanked another, making me dizzy as they spun around me.
They started to create a story as they made me start trying to get away from them so they could act as wolves trying to get me. They would reach out to me with their paw covered hands as if trying to scratch me, and then growl before dancing away on a spin.
Needless to say, I was getting pretty pissed off by this point as they continued to humiliate me in front of the crowd, and I knew that given half the chance I could have danced rings around these women! But then what was I talking about…
I did have the opportunity.
I was on a bloody stage!
Fine, if these freaks wanted a show, then I would damn right give them one! So, I waited until I knew the song would pick up again to its fastest point and that’s when I started to move, dancing in a way that I knew the others would never keep up with. It was a fast enough song that my feet started to move without even asking them to. I was tap dancing, combining it with other moves that had my legs kicking out and spinning around before sweeping low to the floor, barely gracing my toes with the stage. I felt as if I could fly I was moving so fast, taking great steps around the stage and jumping in the air on a whole-body spin. I knew it looked both graceful and fierce combined with the pace of the music. For the first time since my life changed, I felt at peace. I felt at one with the music and completely lost to it. A slave to the notes that were being played so beautifully.
I didn’t notice the crowd, I didn’t notice the other dancers, nothing around the room that had once been a nightmarish world of horrors. None of it mattered anymore. It was just me, the stage and the music.
And I danced like it was my last.
A combination of so many hard things I had learned over the years, ballet, modern and expressive dance, along with moves I had mastered where others in my class hadn’t. But then suddenly the music was coming to an end and my last move was the finishing touch on what had been a heart wrenching experience.
Like one last goodbye.
I leapt across the stage, spinning and lowering to the ground before bending my body back, lifting my leg straight over and around, creating a perfect circle of motion before it swept under me, and I propelled myself up so I now had my hands in the air, with my head thrown back. My hood fell from my head, and I felt the mass of curls of my long red hair fall back from my face and cascade down my back.
But a few seconds was all it took for my reality to start seeping back into my subconscious, and my situation slapped me across the face the moment I saw that shadow. And just like the dream I’d had on the plane over here, that single shadow was rooted to the spot and staring at me like a hungry wolf.
Only this time I had a name to go with the dangerous sight, and this time it wasn’t Puppet Master.
No, it was…
Cerberus.