Evil Allure (17 page)

Sasha looked up from her food, listening intently to the details.

“There was a man watching me. He was sitting in a chair and just… sitting there. He watched people, these things, just grab me and put me on this contraption. This platform that had shackles and chains at each end and…”

I paused as I saw Sasha’s eyes widen. She had a grave look on her face that I hoped I was reading wrong. She started to shake her head as she stared at me.

“Then it’s true,” she said.

“What’s true? What are you talking about, Sasha?”

She looked around and she sighed, pausing for a moment.

“What’s true, Sasha?” I repeated. “Tell me.”

She looked at me and sighed again.

“Irvine had a theory,” she told me. “I didn’t want to believe it because it seemed out of the question. But if what you’re telling me is true, if the details of your dream are accurate, then he’s right.”

“Right about what?”

“That man you saw was the chief. He’s the leader of the clan. The Rucai are all connected. What one wolf sees, the chief sees along with everyone else. I thought the murders were the Rucai being violent for no reason. I thought they were just running rampant for the sake of filling their bestial lust. But now I see that it was more than that. They’re looking for an alpha.”

“An alpha? What is that?”

“Werewolves only mate to reproduce with other werewolves. Werewolves and humans don’t have the same biology to produce offspring. Otherwise it’s just sex for the sake of pleasure with the human paying the price in the end because our immune system can’t handle it.

“They must be looking for someone to convert. Someone to become a werewolf so that they can increase the numbers in their pack through breeding. Their chief must have seen you through Vaughn’s eyes. And the fact that you’re still alive means you’re the one they’ve chosen for more than just their selfish desire. You’re the one they’ve chosen to be their alpha.”

“What?” I said as I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

“There’s no need for them to increase their numbers. A larger clan means there are more mouths to feed. It means they use greater resources and take up more space. It doesn’t make any sense.

“But you’ve been chosen to be the queen of their clan. They’re going to try and convert you. Their chief wants you to be the one to help lead them.”

“Me? Why me?”

“I don’t know, Ariel. But it’s the only way this all fits together.”

Sasha leaned back in her seat like a light bulb had just turned on in her head. I started shaking my head profusely, still not wanting to believe what she was telling me.

“Y-you can’t let them do this,” I said to her. “I-I don’t want—”

“Ariel, please relax. Irvine and I will do everything we can to protect you. They can only convert you during the next full moon. We have until then to prepare for anything that might happen.”

Sasha stood up from the table to call Irvine. I half-listened to the conversation as she explained all of the details, still trying to understand everything she had told me. It all sounded so unbelievable. Why would they choose me when there were thousands of other women? What made me so special? It all seemed so surreal. The way Sasha described it made it seem like I was a target but not to be killed. If my dreams were accurate, the fate they had in store for me seemed much worse.

Sasha got off of the phone with Irvine and I still didn’t understand everything she had told me. It was all confusing and unimaginable. She took a seat next to me and wrapped an arm around me.

“Don’t worry, Ariel. If this is the case, we won’t let it happen to you. They won’t get away with this. This is all going to come to an end very soon.”

Sasha’s attempt at comforting me didn’t help. The clock was already ticking. Now I knew exactly what the ominous doom waiting for me was. And from the sound of things, I was at the center of an inevitably violent struggle. Now there was no way I would be able to put my mind at ease.

Chapter 18

Despite the extreme circumstances, Sasha encouraged me to remain calm and to try and live as normally as possible. That meant that we were both heading into work tonight. It seemed impossible given the circumstances but she was right. I fully intended on living as normal a life as I could after this was all over. Sasha, on the other hand, had to maintain the facade that nothing was wrong by pretending to be a waitress just trying to make a living.

She took me to work that night and we were greeted with an angry boss. He paced back and forth behind the bar. He was fuming. I walked up to May and asked her what was wrong.

“It’s Summer,” she said to me. “She hasn’t shown up for work tonight. She’s usually punctual. Frank’s been trying to get a hold of her but she’s not answering her phone.”

My heart sank. I knew what happened and so did Sasha but the news hadn’t spread yet. I didn’t know how I was going to tell them. How could I explain what happened to Summer? It broke my heart when I saw it happen. I wasn’t sure I could go through the pain of having to tell them and deal with it again.

I turned to Sasha and the worry on my face must have told her everything she needed to know. She pulled me to the side and whispered into my ear.

“You don’t need to say anything,” she said to me.

“But—”

“Nobody knows what happened to Summer. They’re going to know you were there if you say anything. You weren’t supposed to be there. The police are going to get involved. You don’t need them questioning you with everything going on.”

“So what? How do you expect me to keep it to myself? Are we just going to let them live with the ignorance that Summer just got drunk or went on vacation and decided not to show up to work tonight? They deserve to know the truth.”

“Do they, Ariel? You didn’t know what happened to all of those other people until it was reported on the news. You were kept in the dark and you were just fine.”

“But Summer was our friend.”

“I know, Ariel. And that’s why this is so difficult. You can’t say anything. If you do, they’ll start questioning them, too. You don’t want them to get involved, do you?”

I looked over at May and she was staring at Sasha and me inquisitively. I sighed and knew that there was nothing else I could do or say. If Frank wanted to know what happened to his favorite waitress, he was just going to have to wait until the police discovered her remains in the old apartment building.

“Please, Ariel. You can’t say a word.”

“Okay,” I said, resigned to keeping a secret that I didn’t want to.

Sasha made her way to the back as May walked up to me. Sasha looked at me for a second to reiterate her point but she didn’t need to do anything more.

“What was that all about?” May asked me.

“Sasha’s just trying to calm me down, I guess. You know me. I worry too much.”

“You and Sasha are close now, all of a sudden. I don’t think I ever remembered you speaking to her for more than a few seconds.”

“Oh, yeah. She, um, she gave me a ride home last night. She saw me walking on the street when she pulled out of her parking spot.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Yeah. She even stopped by my apartment to drive me to work.”

I suddenly remembered my apartment. The door had been kicked off of the hinges and my landlord was probably wondering what the hell happened. Knowing this city, the place had probably been emptied out by this point. I sighed thinking about everything but an influx of customers ended any further brooding.

The night was going as well as it could have been. There were customers everywhere, so it at least gave me something to do besides sit at the bar and think about the latest events. Every now and then Sasha would pull me to the side and ask me how I was doing. She assured me that there were too many people in the bar and that they wouldn’t try anything out here. It still didn’t stop me from being on edge and feeling tense.

“Where’s the other waitress?” one of the patrons asked me as I placed his drink down in front of him.

“Which other one?”

“You know. The hot blonde one. The one with the nice body. The one with the big—”

“She’s not working tonight.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, girl. Do you know when she’ll be back in?”

“I-I…. I don’t know.”

I hesitated for a second. The truth was on the tip of my tongue and I had to bite it to prevent it from spilling out.

“Well, I guess you’ll have to do for tonight,” the man said as he eyeballed me up and down. “You know, you’re not too bad yourself. Who says a man can’t take a break from a blonde every now and then?”

He and the rest of his friends started to laugh among themselves. I didn’t care what they thought of me. I was still thinking about Summer.

I walked up to the bar to fill a next drink order when there was a breaking news report.

“Police have discovered the body of an unidentified woman in an abandoned apartment building on 8th street. Police officials responded to complaints about a number dogs barking in a lot near the old building earlier this morning.”

I turned away from the television screen, hoping that they wouldn’t show the images of Summer’s mutilated body. But the report continued without any further details about the victim.

“With a string of related murders seemingly continued, police urge residents to avoid traveling alone at night to prevent any abductions without any witnesses. In other news…”

I noticed something strange as I listened to the news report. I looked for Sasha, who was busy tending to a group of customers in the corner. I quickly made my way to her and tugged her on the arm.

“I have to ask you something,” I whispered to her.

“I’ll be right back, gentlemen. Don’t go anywhere now.”

I pulled her into the corner and explained to her that Summer’s death was reported on the news.

“They don’t know it’s her,” I said.

“Good. They don’t need to know, Ariel. When she stops showing up for work entirely, they’ll just assume she went running off because she found some better opportunity.”

“That’s not the only thing bothering me. The report said they only found one body. Her body.”

“So?”

“So… I saw Irvine kill four of them. He dropped them all down right next to her. Wouldn’t they have reported that?”

I looked at Sasha’s contorted face as she listened to what I told her.

“You’re right,” she said. “That is strange.”

“What does it mean? Am I just freaking out for no reason? Somebody moved the bodies.”

“Or…”

“Or what?”

“Or Irvine didn’t kill them.”

“But he did. I saw him. He shot two of them in the chest and stabbed the other ones.”

“Yes, that would kill them. But… they must have been revived after you and Irvine left… It’s you.”

“Me? What are you talking about?”

“They saw what was happening. They saw it through your eyes. That’s the only way they could have gotten there fast enough to save them.”

“That means they know,” I said as I started to panic. “They’ve seen everything. They’ve seen the safe house in the woods. They’ve seen my apartment. They’ve seen me talking to you and Irvine. They can see right now.”

For some reason, Sasha and I turned our attention to the entrance of the bar. There was nobody there but I had an eerie feeling running through my veins. They knew. And suddenly, I didn’t feel as safe as I thought I was.

The door slowly swung open and a man walked in. He was in a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His beard was thick and his hair was messy. I wouldn’t have thought anything more of him except someone else followed him that was dressed similarly. Then there was another man. And then another.

They all stood out from the rest of the bar even though they were dressed so plainly. It must have been because they were so tall and wide. I could see the veins of the muscles on their arms. Their boots seemed to dig into the ground with every step they took. There were five of them as they made their way through the bar. Most of the other patrons got out of their way and when they didn’t, they were simply shoved.

Sasha and I watched them make their way to the corner table of the bar. The same table I saw Summer talking to a similar group of men.

One of them looked at me. My eyes met his and when they did, I saw a grin on his face. Then something happened. It was like a flash right before my eyes. My vision blurred for just a second. I could see myself. I was standing in the bar right next to Sasha. It was all happening right now. It was this exact moment. I was looking through his eyes. Another burst of light flashed before me and I gasped.

“Ariel!”

I stumbled back and Sasha threw her hands up to catch me. I started to blink, trying to regain my composure and make sure that my vision was my own.

“Ariel, are you all right?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine… I’m okay.”

“You looked like you were out for a second.”

“I saw…”

“What did you see?”

“I saw… us. I saw through his eyes. He was looking at us.”

I didn’t look directly at the men sitting at the corner of the bar. I didn’t want to see through their eyes again.

“What do we do?” I asked Ariel, more frightened than I’d ever been. “What are they doing here?”

“Calm down, Ariel,” Sasha tried to reassure me. “They’re not going to do anything in here. There are only five of them.”

“Yeah but there are more and—”

“They’re not here for what you think.”

“Hey, who’s the broad we gotta rape to get some service in here?”

The sound of one of the men yelling in the bar caused their entire table to laugh and holler.

“We can’t serve them,” I said. “Can’t you make them leave or something?”

“Just relax, Ariel. I’ll take care of them.”

“But—”

Before I could stop her, Sasha made her way over to the table. I listened in on their conversation, taking orders from the tables that were nearby.

“What’ll it be, boys?” Sasha asked them.

“We don’t want you,” one of the men said. “We want her. We want the pretty one.”

“Sorry, she’s busy right now. You’re going to have to settle for me tonight.”

“Okay, it’s going to be you tonight. What do you say, fellas? We’re going to have some fun with her? She looks like she knows how to handle a cock.”

The men all burst into laughter once again, pounding on the table with their fists and stomping their feet. They were getting so loud that the sound was beginning to overpower the noise of the crowd and the music coming from the band.

“Not tonight,” Sasha said to them. “I’m a good girl and I only serve alcohol.”

“Oh, I think you can make an exception for us.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh but I insist.”

The man stood up and he grabbed Sasha by the arm. Sasha tugged her arm free but he grabbed her once again. The ruckus started to draw the attention of the rest of the bar and before I knew it, everybody was turned toward the corner table.

“Come on, baby,” he said as he tried to convince Sasha. “You’ll like it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Stop fighting it.”

He grabbed Sasha by her arms and attempted to kiss her. That was the last straw. Sasha pulled herself free and she slapped him across the face. The entire bar gasped nearly in unison as the man stumbled back from how hard she hit him. The band stopped playing and everybody had stopped talking. The look in his eyes was one of complete shock. But it only lasted for a few seconds. His eyes filled with rage and he grabbed Sasha once again.

“Listen here, bitch—”

The front door swung open. Out of nowhere, Irvine started making his way through the crowd of people and toward the corner of the bar. All of the men at the corner table turned their attention to him.

“Let her go,” Irvine said to him.

“Mind your own business.”

“This is my business. Let her go.”

“No. What are you going to do about it?”

Before Irvine could respond, another man stood up from the table and grabbed his friend.

“It’s Irvine,” he said. “Irvine Gold.”

“Ah, I’m glad somebody recognizes me. Now, let her go like I said and nothing has to happen. You don’t want… security to have to escort you out of here.”

The tension in the room was thick. Irvine was staring hard at the man that had Sasha in his grips. His friend continued to urge him to let go. Irvine pulled his jacket apart and I saw something inside of it. It caught the light of the bar and shined for just a brief moment. I didn’t know what it was but suddenly, the man let Sasha go.

One by one, they all started to stand up from the table. Irvine had his eyes locked on all of them as they walked by him. The same one I had shared a vision with turned to me and grinned.

“We’ll be seeing you real soon,” he said to me.