“Yuki?” Cal asked.
His voice was coming from behind me and for a moment I wondered if I’d imagined it. I had closed my eyes against the sun and was reciting a mantra of “help Cal” and visualizing a flock of crows coming to his aid.
“Is there a reason why you’re standing out there like that?” he asked. “If you’re pretending to be a scarecrow, it’s not working.”
I opened my eyes and turned around to see Calvin looking at me quizzically. We were surrounded by crows feeding on the bread crumbs I had scattered. I approached Cal’s window and leaned in for a hug. He didn’t smell like wet dog. I felt so elated I twirled around singing, “shiny, shiny, crows are led, by safety pins, and bits of bread!” Cal just looked at me and laughed.
Hooray for frenzied brain logic.
Our moment of gaiety was over too soon. There were storm clouds on the horizon, one filled with spirits of the dead and the other containing a person angry or disturbed enough to kill a member of Cal’s pack in cold blood, and running away would only be a temporary solution. No, this was a storm we had to face head on.
I joined Cal inside the truck and together we dealt with the difficult task of deciding what to do next. I looked away, suddenly engrossed in the movement of one lone crow eating the remaining crumbs from the ground, as Calvin opened his phone to look at the wolf picture one more time. With a decisive nod he closed the phone and started the engine.
“Can you call Emma and ask her to meet us back at the cabin?” he asked. “Tell her we’ll be there in about twenty minutes and to bring her supplies.”
“Sure,” I answered, already pulling out my phone.
“Need anything from your house?” he asked. “A change of clothes maybe?”
I could see Cal eyeing my safety pin shirt with amusement. If he thought I was changing out of my shiny shirt, he could think again. It was my new lucky shirt.
I might never change my shirt again.
“Well, actually I could use my power boots,” I answered. “I can run in and grab them and leave a note for my parents that I might be a bit late coming home tonight.”
“Good idea,” he said, already backing out of the school parking lot.
I speed dialed Emma and she answered on the first ring. “Girl, is everything okay?” Emma asked. “I just had the creepiest thing happen. I stopped by the veterinary clinic to check this week’s work schedule and when I was holding Duvet, our resident boa constrictor, he
spoke
to me. He said you were in trouble.”
A storm definitely was on the horizon.
When it rains it pours.
Chapter 3
Cal and I had arrived at the cabin after raiding his parent’s house for food. Emma was on her way and promised to bring her alternative medicines and medical reference books. We were all hoping we wouldn’t need them, but had learned it was best to be prepared. I had also come to trust the prophetic words of our spirit guides. The spirits had always advised me in my dreams, but that didn’t mean what Emma said wasn’t true. I trusted Emma with my life, she had saved Calvin’s once already, and if she said a snake told her I was in trouble I was inclined to believe her.
Cal and I settled in the mismatched armchairs and spread our notepads, pens, and phone books over the coffee table. It felt better to have a plan and be doing something. We decided the best strategy was to make a list of all the pack members we knew and to start calling them. I suggested we ask every member we call to in turn call all members they had contact information for. It wasn’t a perfect plan. Some people were going to receive a lot of phone calls tonight, but it was better than missing someone. We needed to turn this situation around. The pack needed to be made aware of the possible danger. With awareness comes strength. We had to believe that.
“You guys are like contagious or something,” Emma blurted as she pushed through the cabin door. Cal walked over to help carry her bags of supplies while I set aside the list we had been working on.
“Contagious?” I asked. “Do we have boy-girl germs?”
Didn’t we grow out of cooties in middle school?
“I’m serious,” Emma said, looking back and forth between us. “Your weird abilities are rubbing off.”
“Why don’t you sit down and tell us about it while I put the kettle on,” Cal said. “I think we could all use some tea.”
“Amen to that,” I said with a sigh. There was a lot of work ahead. I needed caffeine.
Lots and lots of caffeine.
“Well, like I was telling Yuki on the phone,” Emma said, “I drove to the veterinary clinic after school to check the new work schedule and while I was there I stopped to play with Duvet our new boa constrictor.”
“Let me guess, Gordy named Duvet right?” I asked.
Gordy was Emma’s new boyfriend and my long-time friend from anime club. Emma had asked Gordy to the recent Homecoming dance and they had been attached at the lips ever since. Gordy was a good friend, but we hadn’t told him about my ability to smell the dead or about how Cal turns furry at the full moon.
Some things were best left unsaid.
“How’d you know that?” Emma asked. “He was with me when they brought her in. As soon as she was identified as an adult boa constrictor he wanted to name her Duvet. Why? Does it mean something?”
“It’s kind of an anime thing,” I said. “The opening theme song for the anime Serial Experiments Lain is Duvet by Boa. Gordy probably couldn’t resist the reference. Did he put his hands over his mouth and start saying ‘Layer One’ in a weird Darth Vader voice?”
“Unfortunately yes,” Emma said, starting to laugh. “All the dogs started barking and my supervisor had to ask him to leave.”
That was Gordy. The eternal goofball.
Some things never change.
“So when you picked up Duvet today something happened?” Cal asked, carrying over our steaming mugs of tea.
“Yeah, something happened all right,” she answered. “I was holding Duvet and she just started talking, but not really with her mouth. It was like someone was beaming the thoughts into my head. She said Yuki was in danger. You believe me don’t you?”
“I smell dead people and my boyfriend’s a werewolf,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Of course I believe you.”
“Did she say anything else?” Cal asked.
“No, she just went back to being a normal snake,” Emma answered. “No more voices after that, but it doesn’t lessen the creep factor. I don’t know how you two deal with it all the time, but you can keep the crazy to yourselves. I’ve had enough.”
“Good luck with that,” I said, blowing across the top of my tea. “Anyway, we have bigger fish to fry.”
“Did you have to say that?” Emma asked with an exaggerated shudder. “The poor little fish!”
She may have had a brush with the paranormal, but Emma was still Emma.
Some things never change.
I was beginning to feel thankful for that. My life was changing so fast, and so many things were out of my control, I felt like the leaf swept up by the wind which swirls dizzily in mini tornadoes of someone else’s making. The storm winds may shake me, and at times even force me to dance to their chaotic tune, but Calvin and his wolf spirit would be my shield and Emma would keep me grounded to reality. Emma was the root and branch that held me in place.
The cabin door opened and Simon shook himself, splattering rain drops all over Emma, and leaving his wet hair sticking out in all directions.
So not good.
Simon was one of the Old Ones, yet unusual for his kind. He had been born with an awareness of his wolf spirit, something which usually developed as the human host matured, which left him a bit…off. Simon had a slightly feral look in his eye and a wildness which didn’t go away as the new moon neared, but his closeness to his spirit wolf gave him insight and wisdom which far exceeded his years. Not that he was young. Simon was in his late thirties, something I never failed to remind him of. Unfortunately that didn’t mean he was overly mature. Simon and Emma never missed a chance to argue over the most trivial thing.
“I guess it’s true what they say about the inability to teach old dogs new tricks,” Emma said archly. “I see you haven’t house trained this one yet.”
Emma turned her back on Simon and missed the look of pure fury which raged across his face. It only lasted a second, but for that moment there was nothing human in his glare. He gained control of his wolf quickly though and shrugged, flicking more water on Emma, a slow predatory grin sliding across his handsome face.
“Is there a reason you smell like reptiles today?” Simon asked, looking steadily at Emma. “Something you’d like to share with the class? Finally found life forms as cold blooded as yourself?”
Son of a dung beetle.
If someone didn’t nip this in the bud, they would go on like this all night. “Emma had an experience with a snake,” I said. “She was just telling us about it.”
“Sounds kinky,” Simon said, still grinning.
“That’s enough,” Calvin said. “We have important work to do and I need your report.”
To my surprise Simon obeyed. I was still getting used to Cal’s alpha status and what that meant. Simon often acted in the role of our teacher, but when it came to direct orders from Cal he listened. You hear about some people being born leaders, but in Cal’s case it was true. He had been born with the spirit of the alpha wolf inside of him which meant he led the pack. Now that the pack was being threatened I could see the full weight of that responsibility in the dark smudges and tightness around his eyes.
“We know who our victim is, or was, and what he was doing in the woods,” Simon said. “It looks like someone knew Gavin’s routine and followed him once he shifted into wolf form. Poor man never even knew what hit him.”
“How was he killed?” Calvin asked. “Do we have any idea?”
“Blow to the head,” Simon answered. “But that’s where it gets weird. First, it’s hard to sneak up on one of us. Second, I smelled a werewolf, other than Gavin, there at the scene.”
“What?” Cal asked incredulously. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Wait, it gets even more bizarre,” Simon said, pulling a plastic bag from his pocket. “These items were under the body.”
Body.
I felt like I was going to be sick. I tried not to picture the wolf from Cal’s phone, but the image was permanently etched into my brain.
Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts.
“You may want to get your girlfriend a glass of water,” Simon said to Cal. “I like my girls pale, but she’s beginning to look a bit green. No offense, love.”
“
None taken Old Man,”
I wanted to quip, but a sudden roaring in my ears was distracting me and I had the nagging feeling opening my mouth was a bad idea.
“Yuki?” Cal asked, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “You alright?”
“Help her put her head between her knees,” Emma instructed.
Cal rubbed my back as I stuck my head between my knees. Great. Now all eyes were on me and I looked like a freak…or a turtle.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Freak.
“Go ahead you guys,” I mumbled, waving a hand for them to continue. “Don’t mind me.”
Nothing to see here.
“Okay kitten, if you insist,” Simon said.
I felt Cal growl as it rippled down his arm and through the hand which still rested on my back. “What’s in the bag?” Cal asked, his voice deadly serious.
Simon blinked at the plastic bag in his hands and set it on the coffee table. “Found these bits beneath the body,” Simon said. “Seems our killer is a nutter. Joe Schmoe sociopath. He left some weird religious odds and ends. I’d bet a dance with the devil that bullet and cross are made of silver.”
My curiosity won out over my nausea and I pulled myself back to a sitting position so I could see the contents of the bag. The bag was clear plastic and nestled inside were what looked to be a silver bullet, metal cross, and an assortment of dead plants.
“This guy has issues,” Emma said. “Issues plural. Definitely not a werewolf lover that’s for sure.”
“Our man is quite the wolf hater,” Simon agreed.
Simon and Emma never agreed on anything, ever, but the items did seem to fit the profile of someone with a deep hatred for werewolves. “So the attack wasn’t random,” Calvin said and sighed.
“He wasn’t shot was he?” I asked.
“No the bludgeoning was quite adequate to ensure his death sweetheart,” Simon answered.
I ignored his teasing and pushed on. “So the bullet is just symbolic then,” I said. I wasn’t sure if it was important, but I wanted to understand what each of the items meant to the killer. Maybe the items in the bag could help lead us to him.
“That’s a good point,” Cal said. “What are the other items? Are those plants?”
Emma leaned forward for a closer look and froze, only her eyes continued moving to look up at Simon. “Simon, did you touch any of these plants?” she asked.
“No darling, I’m not that naïve,” Simon scoffed. “I know better than to touch evidence.”
“Good, that knowledge probably saved your life,” she said. “That piece of flowering plant is an aconite commonly known as Wolfsbane. It may be symbolic for repelling werewolves, but it is also a very toxic plant. Fatal doses of the poison can easily be absorbed through the skin.”
Son of a dung beetle.
This was getting way creepy. I felt like spiders were crawling under my skin. Even Simon looked disconcerted.
“This bit of leafy branch is from a Mountain Ash or Rowan tree,” Emma said. “You may all recognize the last plant as mistletoe. Mistletoe can be poisonous if ingested, but I think what all of these items have in common are their symbolic uses as werewolf wards. Many werewolf superstitions include at least one of them.”
“Maybe he just wanted the mistletoe for when he met pretty girls,” Simon quipped. “All men can’t be as devastatingly handsome as me.”
I just rolled my eyes at Simon, but Emma looked ready for a fight. Fortunately Calvin chose that moment to take control and tell them about our plan. He assigned each of us a list of names and instructed us on what to say when we called. We wanted to avoid mass panic, and we had to be careful to only speak about the Old Blood to actual members of the pack. It wouldn’t do to tell the human babysitter that a raging, murderous, psychopath werewolf was on the loose.
I don’t think she’d take the news very well.