Cruel and Unusual - serialised novel EXCLUSIVE to Steemit Part 77

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Episode List From 1 – 52
Then: 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76

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Please read the start of the story using the link above. I promise, it’s well-worth the time to check it all out. At least then, this excerpt will make more sense

“The Throwback killed Amelia and Marcellus. He noted the details in his journal and he kept her head as a souvenir.”

“Good grief! Have their families been told?”

“Yes, I told them most of the details, I left out the journal because it is too graphic. Perhaps I should have also left out the detail about Amelia’s head being preserved in a jar; it may have saved some upset.”

“Her father saw it?”

Hazel nodded.

“What details do you wish to keep from the families?”

“He writes in great detail of his herbology and other experiments. He writes of how he paralysed the couple and how they died of Wolfsbane poisoning. I did not want those details known. But there is one other thing that I have not yet told you.”

Anton again waited.

“The Throwback is now, or is at least on the way to becoming full Wolf. I suspect that in the next day or so, as the full moon approaches, his wound will begin to heal at a miraculous speed and come the full moon, he will be as he wanted."

"Why the smile? If he has had his wish granted..." Anton said.

"He assumes that I cannot touch him now. He does not realise that I hold sway on his execution because you have other plans for him.”

“Indeed I do, I plan to keep him indefinitely and experiment on his body in all manner of ways. At the end, I shall ask you how you would like his end to come to him.”

“I can tell you the answer to that question right now. I would like him flayed alive before an audience of my Sentinels so they can see the final justice being done for the three that he killed with silver particles."

Anton nodded but realised she had not finished.

"Also, I would ask that if any of my Sentinels wish to observe the experiments before his end is dealt to him, that you will give them free rein, for nothing will bind them closer to me than to watch cruel and unusual punishment being carried out upon one who dared to injure one of my Sentinels. The crueller the better, and I shall enjoy the thought of his imprisonment.”

“You ask a great favour of me, Hazel; I prefer my work to be kept secret.”

“And it shall be secret still, for none of my Sentinels will break your confidence, I shall make that understood. We are of one mind; the one that killed our comrades seems to be getting away with the crime because he has managed to make of himself Full Wolf. They neither know nor care how he managed it, but the fact that I have held off on his execution is giving them cause for doubt and I wish to scotch that as soon as possible. Will you make the announcement?”

“No, it is better to come from you - that you negotiated it on their behalf – which, of course, you just did.”

Hazel smiled, it was not a pleasant smile, it was grim and determined and also sad.

The loss of her three comrades had hit her harder than it should have and Anton knew that a change was on its way.

Hazel needed to protect herself and if she was being affected in such a way, then she had to draw back – at least for a while.

The sentinels had proven their worth yet again under the Exemplar’s guidance and Anton knew that Wolfkind owed a massive debt to the Sentinels – again – as did the Hume society.

Then Anton had a revelation. He went after Hazel who was making her way toward the meeting place where the Sentinels awaited an announcement from her.

“Hazel, you need a sabbatical.”

“A what? Why?”

“Listen to me, you have become far too close to the Humes that you protect.”

“My remit is not to protect Humes…” and she stopped in mid-sentence. It took but a moment for her to think on it. “So then, why have I been protecting their society? Why have I tried to ensure no Humes were killed if I could possibly prevent it? Why did I care?”

“Because, perhaps, as Prophesised one, you are different. You seem to absorb the psyches around you and if you are constantly surrounded by Humes, then you take on more of their attributes and the Wolf in you fades.”

“You forget I was once Hume, so perhaps it is that my inner self that absorbs Wolf?”

“I think not. You recall that when we began your tutoring, you embraced the Sentinel within you almost without prompting? After but a short while you were far more advanced at becoming Wolf than even those that were born Wolf, surpassing your peers – the others that were still learning how to control their change?”

Hazel looked Anton in the eye and held his gaze. “Are you implying that I am a sponge?”

Anton laughed with genuine delight.

“Yes, exactly so! You take on the psyche of those that you surround yourself with. If you were to spend a year with my father and his pack, you would become more pure Wolf than even I am.”

“Your father? Is that possible Anton? Is he still alive?”

“Oh yes, he is still alive and still runs with his pack, though it is diminished from the force it once was.”

“So if I were to leave these shores and take my pack out to the wilderness and live alongside them, I would become more Sentinel-like?”

“I do not know, I could guess that you would not, for you have taught these Wolves to be Sentinel in your own way. If you were to find your tutors and live amongst them for a time, then perhaps you would once again be the Sentinel you once were – tough, relentless, cold.”

Hazel raised her eyebrows at Anton then.

“I was once tough, relentless and cold?” she asked but her expression told Anton that she was being sardonic and he smiled.