Chapter Four
Eric was in the basement and he was pacing back and forth. He was on the phone to one of his lieutenants. Pam stood on the steps and listened to the exchange.
"Are you telling me that you have completely lost the girl's trail?" he said.
"Sir, she just seems to have vanished," said his lieutenant.
"You have failed me," said Eric. "Do you understand what it is to fail me?"
He lost control and began to rant, "You are a vampire, one of my highest ranking lieutenants, and you are telling me that you can't find one little girl who is all alone. How is that possible?"
There was a momentary pause and then the lieutenant said, "I'm sorry, Sir, but she is not an ordinary girl. She is not using any credit cards and there has not been any sightings of her car."
"I don't want to hear your excuses," said Eric. "I want you to set up two or more teams and I want them to stop at every conceivable spot on the highways that she might have gone. They will personally flash her picture and ask questions of everyone. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Sir, of course," said his lieutenant.
"And the next time that you check in with me, you had better have some progress to report. Do you understand that?" said Eric.
"Yes, Sir," said his lieutenant.
Eric hung up the phone and continued to angrily pace. Who would have thought that girl would cause so many problems. Annoying little hybrid, he thought. There was a way to ensure that she could not run away again, if his incompetent lieutenant was able to find her. She would drink either his or Pam's blood when she was returned. Of course, if Pam had not let her loose that girl would not be free.
"Perhaps, you should just let her go," said Pam.
"I'm surprised, Pam," said Eric. "I thought that you would want to teach her a lesson for bashing in your skull."
"I don't want to worry about my pets offing me," said Pam. "If she was a student of Cole's, I don't want to have anything to do with her."
Eric could agree with that assessment. No matter how delicious she tasted, there was no way he was going to turn his back on her either, he thought.
"She also seems to be able to hide among humans since you can't find her. I know that she doesn't want our help, but maybe, she doesn't need it," said Pam.
"I am surprised by that," said Eric. "However, I saw first-hand that her level of control can be thin. She also attacked me in the basement."
"A little warning would have been nice," said Pam, sarcastically.
"I thought that you could handle her," replied Eric.
Eric continued to pace.
"If she does something to bring human attention to her, she will cause humans to fear us even more than they already do," said Eric.
"If you are serious about finding her, I think that it's time to find a better tracker," said Pam.
"The werewolf?" said Eric.
"Isn't that what he is supposed to be good at?" said Pam.
Pam did have a point, but the trail would be growing cold and weather might have already deteriorated the scent. He really didn't understand how those creatures tracked. Still, he would lose nothing by having the werewolf try.
"See if you can get ahold of him," said Eric. "And tell him to come here."
Alcide arrived, having been summoned to Fangtasia. As usual, the werewolf displayed his usual lack of enthusiasm at having to work for him. Maybe if he could keep his father out of debt to him, the werewolf would not be in this predicament, thought Eric evilly. However, Eric enjoyed having the werewolf at his beck and call. And, as much as he disliked him, the werewolf had proved himself extremely useful on many occasions.
Eric handed the werewolf an article of the girl's clothing. Alcide frowned as he realized that he would be hunting a girl.
"Find her," said Eric.
"And who exactly am I looking for?" asked Alcide.
"Well, what do you smell, werewolf?" asked Eric. He was curious as to what the werewolf would be able to detect about her.
Alcide lifted the blouse to his nose and sniffed it. A slight look of confusion passed over his handsome features and he sniffed again.
"She smells different," said Alcide. "I am not familiar with this scent, but I can detect the smell of vampire."
"She is something different," said Eric.
"That doesn't tell me what she is," said Alcide.
"She is a hybrid, part-vampire and part-human," said Eric.
"I would say that is impossible, except that I have seen one of these creatures before," said Alcide.
Alcide paused a moment as he remembered that creature. It was not a pleasant memory on more than one level. He still regretted his involvement in the entire affair.
"This one was not made the same way. She was not born this way," said Eric.
"Just how many ways are there to make one of these things?" said Alcide.
"I'm not sure exactly how Fallon was created," said Eric. "Her creation is something that her makers will never divulge the details of."
"Fallon is still gone?" asked Alcide.
"Nervous? Afraid that she'll come back and finish you off?" taunted Eric.
"Aren't you?" asked Alcide.
Eric smiled as he remembered Fallon.
"She forgave me, sort of," said Eric.
Alcide didn't understand why she didn't kill the vampire when she got free of him. After all the vampire did to her, it still incensed Alcide that he got off scott free. He cast an irritated glance at the vampire. Maybe, what they say about vampire bedroom skills was true since he knew that the vampire and Fallon were lovers.
"So, did you make this one?" asked Alcide.
"No," said Eric.
"How is it even possible?" asked Alcide.
"It is an extremely rare occurrence. Just the right set of circumstances have to happen and, even then, it won't happen unless the right human is chosen," said Eric.
"What kind of human?" asked Alcide.
"A special one," said Eric, ambiguously.
"Is she dangerous, like the other one?" asked Alcide.
"For a big, bad werewolf," said Eric. "You certainly are afraid of little girls."
"These creatures aren't little girls, no matter how sweet and innocent they look," said Alcide.
"My assassin trained her. I'm not sure of how adept she is," said Eric.
Great, thought Alcide. Why does the vampire want these creatures?
"You have your assignment, werewolf," said Eric. "Don't fail me."
That same evening, the local town was having its summer celebration at the local school. Since only locals would be attending, it was deemed safe for Dylan to come with the family. Dylan had helped Doreen bake all day long. The end result of their efforts were several pies and cakes. Dylan had been somewhat reluctant about attending, but Doreen had pointed out that she was going to have to meet the locals sooner or later.
Doreen had found Dylan a pretty summer dress in white. It had spaghetti straps and a pleated skirt. When Dylan walked out wearing the dress, it seemed like she was in her own spotlight. Her hair fell in soft waves and her already pretty features had a light adornment of makeup. The sight of her coming down the stairs had caused both Will and Kyle to stop and admire the view.
When they arrived at the gathering, Will and Kyle went off to check in with pack members that were in attendance while Doreen and Dylan carried the baked goods to the buffet table.
As they arrived and began to unload the pies and cakes, another woman approached them. She appeared to be in her forties and seemed to be in charge of arranging the buffet table.
"Doreen, it's always a pleasure to see you," she said to Doreen, but her eyes were on Dylan.
"Hello, Sarah," said Doreen.
When Doreen didn't say anything else, Sarah cleared her throat and looked expectantly at Dylan.
"Sarah," said Doreen, at last, "this is Dylan and Dylan this is Sarah Jacobs."
"Hello, Mrs. Jacobs," said Dylan, politely.
"Hello," said Sarah. "You're even prettier than I heard."
Dylan looked embarrassed and said, "Thank you."
Sarah then showed them where to place the pies and cakes.
Dylan cautiously looked around and unhappily found that she was object of several peoples attention. She glanced away quickly.
"Perhaps, I shouldn't have come," said Dylan.
"I guess that I should have explained things to you better," said Doreen. "But, we are like the first family of the community, at least as far as the pack members go, since Will is pack leader and Kyle is his second in command. So, anything that happens in our family is of interest to the rest of the pack and to the community as a whole. Everyone is understandably curious about you."
"Is everyone here a werewolf?" asked Dylan.
"No. This community began as a place where werewolves could find a refuge and be with their own kind. But, after time passed, it was found that there were others who were also searching for a place like this. And the werewolves here mate for love and often mate outside the pack. We are now a complex mix of werewolves, shifters and humans," said Doreen.
Doreen added, "But, due to the nature of our population, we can't allow outsiders in."
"And what would happen if a regular family moved in?" asked Dylan.
"We have taken steps to ensure that won't happen," said Doreen.
Dylan considered what a unique place this town was. A place where they could all be themselves and not have to hide and pretend to be something that they were not. She remembered what the vampire had said to her. He had said that she would not be able to coexist with humans anymore. But, surely in a place like this, her differences would not matter. For the first time in a long time, she began to contemplate a future that she had thought was stolen from her.
Slowly, a crowd of ladies enveloped Doreen and Dylan. With all the introductions and questions, Dylan was getting understandably flustered. She was a relatively shy girl and was not used to being the center of attention. All this was evident to Will and Kyle as they returned back to find them.
"As expected, the nosey ladies of the community have wasted no time in getting Dylan in their claws," said Will. "I think that it's time for you to rescue her."
Kyle smiled and strode into the center of the maelstrom. The crowd seemed to part before him with a sigh. Dylan's eyes found his and he smiled at the relief that he saw in them.
"Excuse me ladies," he said. "But, I've come to steal away my intended."
He took Dylan by the hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Holding her hand, he quickly escorted her away.
As they walked away, the buzz of the whispers started up and grew louder. He had made it official now, thought Doreen. That would spread like wildfire throughout the community.
Now, some of the comments became audible to Doreen.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it," said one. "Kyle Sanders is engaged."
" All the young single ladies are going to be crying into their pillows tonight," said another.
"What do you mean young?" replied another. "There is not a woman in this community between 18 and 50 who would kick him out of bed."
"Mother, I don't really need to hear that," replied her daughter.
"Hey, ladies, we still have his brother left," yet another said. "And he isn't too shabby either."
"Here, here, at least there is still hope for the rest of us," several said.
"I would say that she moves fast, but did you see the look on his face?" someone else said. "I think thats it's the other way around."
"I mean, let's face it, how could we have possibly competed against her? She's drop-dead gorgeous, if you pardon the pun," another said.
That produced a chorus of good-natured giggles. The ladies moved in and congratulated Doreen.
"Thank you for rescuing me," said Dylan when they were out of earshot of the women.
"They can be a little overwhelming," said Kyle. "They are just curious."
"You gave them more to talk about," said Dylan.
"Well, you are my intended," said Kyle. "I can't help it if you haven't surrendered to my manly wiles, yet."
"Manly wiles?" said Dylan. "I think that I might like the sound of that."
"Am I tempting you, yet?" said Kyle, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it.
Dylan blushed and dropped her eyes. Kyle wondered how she could be so shy, surely he was not the only boy to have made a fuss over her. She was just too pretty.
He gently raised her chin and kissed her.
"What about now?" he whispered into her ear.
He winked and added, "There's more where that came from."
"You aren't playing fair," said Dylan.
"I never said that I would play fair," said Kyle with a smile.
He squeezed her hand and began walking again with her.
Will was also surrounded by other pack members.
"Has anyone come looking for the girl, yet?" he asked.
The group answered with negatives.
"I don't think vampires would even suspect that we would take her in," said one.
"I can hardly believe it myself," said another.
Will turned his gaze on him and he explained, "I mean knowing the girl, herself, you can understand it. But to vampires, it won't make any sense."
"She's not a fanger," said another. "I don't care if she does have fangs. I saw what happened in the bar. The only time she got upset was when Kyle called her a vampire's pet."
"I saw her too, there aren't many who can stand up to a den of werewolves. She can hold her own in a fight, I'll say that for her," replied another.
"There is no one here that has suffered more at the hands of a vampire than that girl," said Will. "But, they did not break her spirit. No one here has earned the right to judge her. And, they are not going to come and take her away without a fight."
"Will, relax, we don't give up one of our own to vampires," came a reply.
As they returned home, Will and Doreen headed for bed.
Kyle pulled Dylan into the living room.
"It's late. I should be off to bed, too," said Dylan.
"Come on, just sit with me a while," said Kyle.
When she still balked, Kyle grinned and said, "I promise to be an almost perfect gentleman."
"What does that mean?" asked Dylan.
"It's not within my capacity to be a perfect gentleman, at least around you," said Kyle.
When Dylan gave him a look, he smirked and said, "Hey, at least, I'm honest about it."
He pulled her down beside him and began to kiss her. Holding her gently, he brushed his fingers into her hair and softly kissed her lips. He slowly kissed his way down her neck. He was pleased to note that the fang marks had faded away. He felt Dylan arch her head back a little, giving him better access. As he continued to kiss her, he heard a snick. He felt her freeze in his hands and then she began to try to push him away.
"I'm sorry. I...I can't control that," she cried, still trying to push him away with one hand and cover up her fangs with the other.
He gently caressed her and took her hand that she was holding in front of her face into his.
"It just happens when I get excited or scared," said Dylan.
Kyle smiled and leaned in to kissed her on the cheek.
He moved to her ear and whispered, "So which was it? Did I excite you or scare you?"
He moved again to her neck and kissed her, whispering, "Or was it both?"
As he continued to kiss her, he heard a soft, "Both."
Kyle returned to look into her eyes. He gently took her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb over her lips. He softly touched one of her fangs with his thumb. And he noticed that it caused Dylan to close her eyes. They must be sensitive to the touch, he thought. Perhaps, touching them caused a pleasurable sensation. He would have never guessed that fangs would be an erogenous zone.
He gently continued to trace his thumb along her fangs and Dylan softly sighed his name. While still touching her fangs, he kissed her cheek and moved to her ear.
"Those fangs don't bother me. In fact, I find them oddly arousing," he said.
He kissed her on the lips and this time used his tongue to gently explore those fangs. Dylan returned the kiss and slowly wrapped her arms around him.
He stopped a moment to whisper in her ear, "Just remember, no biting on the first date. I'm not that kind of boy."
