Chapter Twenty-one: Effy the Werewolf Slayer

JJ had fallen asleep on the couch; neither Katie nor Naomi knew how long he had gone without sleep, but they weren't going to wake him up.

"He's really quite the genius isn't he?" Naomi said.

"Yes. A snoring, drooling genius." Katie replied.

The door slammed open for what had to the hundredth time in the past few months. Naomi scampered to the hallway trying to shush the newcomers before they woke JJ. She stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with Emily and Freddie, who were dragging a bloodied Cook along with them.

"Jesus!" Katie snapped. "For once could we not tear down the house?"

She rounded the corner and gasped; she pulled Naomi gently out of their way to let them into the living room. Naomi shook herself out of her shock and rushed past them to lay out a blanket and pillow on the rug.

"What happened?" Katie whispered to Effy as she sauntered through the door.

"Foster," the dark haired vampire whispered back. "I need to talk to you."

"And I need to talk to you," Katie agreed. "But what about Cook?"

"They've got him," Effy said. "He'll be fine; his heartbeat is still strong and steady."

The vampires slipped silently up the stairs and into Katie's room. In the living room, Freddie was nudging JJ awake while Emily stared across Cook's body at Naomi. She wanted to reach out and touch the blonde so badly, it hurt, and she could see in her girlfriend's eyes that she felt the same way.

"Naomi…I…" Emily sighed.

Naomi looked down at Cook's face and wondered if it was possible that Emily had done this. If so, she was staring at the reason her girlfriend was staying away.

"I get it…" Naomi said, standing up and walking to the window.

Freddie finally had JJ awake enough to explain what had happened.

"Cabinet above the sink." The boy yawned. "Excuse me Emily."

Emily stood up as JJ rolled off the couch with a thud and then positioned himself next to his injured friend; he pulled another pillow off the couch to prop the werewolf's head up better. Emily walked over to the window and stood next to her girlfriend.

"We're working on it…" the brown eyed girl promised. "Cook and I…we'll find a way."

"Yeah." Naomi sniffled, "…looks like it's working out wonderfully."

Naomi covered her face, trying to hide her tears. Emily reached out to put an arm around her and she jumped. Emily pulled her hand back quick, hurt welling up in her eyes and spilling out as tears. Her arm dropped to her side and she stared out the window. She had left because she wanted to protect her girlfriend so that she wouldn't have to fear for her safety, but now, Naomi was afraid of her. What hurt most was—maybe she was right to be afraid of Emily.

JJ had stitched the gashes quickly and cleanly; he was dabbing the stitches with disinfectant as Cook's eyes fluttered open.

"We having a party?" he asked groggily.

"Just stay as still as you can and drink this," JJ instructed.

"What is it?" Cook asked skeptically.

"Vitamin C," he answered. "It's fizzy; you'll like it."

"Where's Emily?" he asked after taking a sip.

"Here," she said, sitting down next to him. "Cook I'm so sorry."

What Emily meant, of course, was she was sorry that she hadn't stepped in to help sooner, but Naomi didn't know that. The blonde backed quietly towards the hallway.

"Naomikins." Cook grunted.

Her blue eyes were big as saucers and she headed for the door before anyone could say anything else. Emily jumped up to follow her, but stopped at the door; she couldn't chase her down now. What good would it do? The redhead ambled back into the living room and slumped into a chair.

Upstairs Katie fidgeted with a pillow as Effy paced the room.

"Did you hear me?" Katie asked. "JJ found a cure today."

Effy ignored the other vampire. "Foster was scared of me; I think I can kill him."

"As in, hit the tanning beds…you know…eating take-out instead of eating make-out…" the shorter girl insisted.

"But he's crafty," the blue eyed girl continued. "I'll need a plan—a good plan."

She wheeled around to face her friend. "And I need you to stay with Freddie. He wants to kill Freddie again."

Katie gave up for the moment; she could see that Effy was shaken. She stood up to give her friend a hug.

"You stay with Freddie," she said. "Cook and Emily will take care of Foster."

Her friend pushed free from the hug. "They can't," she protested.

"Of course they can; they've been working on it for ages." The other girl soothed.

Effy locked her with an icy stare. "No, they can't; he has some kind of…I don't know…alpha male wolf thing…He's stronger than them and he knows it. But he was still afraid of me."

"…Ok…Then we will take care of it," Katie promised.

Effy sat down on the bed to gather her thoughts.

"So…about…" Katie ventured.

"No," her friend snapped.

"I mean after we get rid of Foster," the brown eyed vampire added.

"No," Effy repeated.

Katie's jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

Effy stood up and headed out of the room. Katie grabbed her by the arm.

"No, you tell me why the hell you would possibly want to stay like this?" the redhead insisted.

The dark-haired girl jerked her arm free. "I'll tell you when I figure out what to do about Foster."

With that, she swung out of the room and Katie heard the lock to Effy's room click into place.

Naomi had headed home, but once she got to the door, she knew she couldn't stand to sleep in her bed alone again. So she found herself outside Panda and Thomas's flat, knocking at the door.

"Just a minute…" Panda called. "I'll be right back." Naomi heard her say in a muffled tone.

The door swung open and Panda jumped excitedly in the doorway. "Naomi! Come in," she said tugging the blonde in quickly.

Naomi struggled to regain her balance. "Where's Thomas?" she asked.

"Babysitting his brother and sister; his mom won't let them come over here. Of course," Panda answered.

"Did you have company? I should have called…" Naomi said.

"No! It's great to see you Naomi. I'm really happy you came," Panda said.

Naomi gave her a skeptical look. "I thought I heard you talking to someone."

"Oh yeah. Well there is…" Panda looked around, "…was someone here. They'll come back."

"So that's still happening I see," The blonde said. "I thought maybe it was just Freddie."

Panda plopped down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her.

"It was, but now I see all sorts of people. It's the most popular I've ever been." She laughed. "So what do you want to do? How's everyone?"

Naomi shrugged and took a seat next to the excited girl on the couch. "I hope I'm not sitting on anyone," she thought to herself.

"What's the matter?" Panda asked.

"Can I stay here tonight?" the blue eyed girl asked.

Naomi was as surprised as Panda was that she had asked. Of everyone in their group of friends, they spent the least time together. For a moment she wondered why that was. sure she was a little awkward, but Pandora wasn't really that bad to be around; at least she was sweet and friendly. Obviously the girl had to be smart, she'd been accepted to Harvard after all, and maybe the awkwardness wasn't that much different from JJ. "Why don't we hang out more?" Naomi thought to herself.

"Sure," Panda answered.

"I wouldn't ask, I just don't want to stay at home tonight," Naomi added.

"Because of Emily, account of she might go all wolf and…you know…" Panda said without thinking.

"And that would be why," Naomi thought again.

Days later, Effy got a call from Cook.

"What's going on?" Freddie mumbled into the pillow.

Effy thanked the werewolf for the update and hung up. She gazed at the boy in bed next to her for a few moments.

"Cook just wanted to check in on you," she lied.

"Guess he took my death pretty hard," Freddie murmured into the pillow before falling back to sleep.

"We all did…" she said, almost inaudibly.

The vampire slid, unnoticed, out of the bed and down the hall, letting herself into Katie's room.

"Emily found his…lair…" Effy announced. "It's tonight."

"Where is it?" Katie asked.

"You're not coming with me," her friend said.

The red haired vampire tried put on an innocent face but the other girl wasn't buying it.

"Let me help," Katie begged.

"You are helping," The dark haired girl insisted with a nod towards the other room.

"Let the werewolves watch him. What if you need the help? I saw Cook and Emily tear the other vampire to shreds," the brown eyed girl whispered urgently. "What does Freddie think?"

Effy's usually unreadable eyes went wide.

"He doesn't know!" Katie spat.

The tall vampire jumped onto the bed and covered her roommate's mouth. They locked eyes and it became clear that, despite them both being very stubborn, the werewolf's sister would have to do things her friend's way.

Effy set out at sunset; Katie stood at the window and watched her disappear into the city. She sighed and turned to watch the two boys who now lived with them playing with the two mice who had survived JJ's miracle cure.

"You know what we need?" she asked.

The boys looked up at her and shrugged.

"We need to get the three musketeers back together to party," she said, a little too much the way a mother suggests a play date.

She pulled out her phone and called her sister; after a few minutes she had convinced the werewolves to come over. JJ was taking Sid and Cassie back to the cage in the kitchen as Freddie eyed the vampire suspiciously.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing, I just feel like blowing off some steam," she insisted, checking her watch. "You have to admit we need it."

The girl was wearing baggy sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt and her hair was tied back in a pony tail. Freddie wanted to call bullshit on her, but instead he let it go. Moments later, the werewolves came into the house and the vampire greeted her sister with a hug. Like usual, Cook announced himself and tossed himself down on the sofa next to his friend.

"You could use a shower," Katie said casually to her sister. "Let me show you where the towels are."

She pulled Emily up the stairs and checked behind her; she could hear the boys already laughing and joking in the living room.

"Where is Foster?" she asked briskly.

"Effy specifically ordered me not to say…" Emily said.

"I can tell you where Naomi is…" Katie dangled the information like bait, "…even though she specifically ordered me not to say…"

Emily sighed and chewed her lower lip before giving up the information.

"Thanks," Katie said, giving her a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "I wasn't kidding though; you really should get a shower."

The vampire bounded down the stairs and the boys cheered a greeting at her. She smiled to them and checked her watch again. She cleared her throat.

"Just going to pop out for dinner and I'll be back," she lied.

JJ stared after the vampire girl. "She's up to something isn't she?"

"Yes, JJ—suspect she is up to something." Freddie laughed.

Effy stood outside a very run down warehouse all the way across town. It was boarded up and the building looked so unstable that even with her vampire agility, she was pretty sure she couldn't sneak in. She shrugged to herself and listened for a heartbeat to be sure he was in there.

Dr. Foster wheeled around when the vampire kicked in the door. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Elizabeth," he said calmly, "how nice to see you again so soon."

"Shut up!" she screeched. "You know why I'm here."

"What do you feel is the reason you are here Miss Stonem?" he taunted.

Effy reached into her handbag and pulled out a large silver dagger; she tossed the bag aside.

"Stop it," she said, pointing the knife at him.

He was visibly shaken and his voice wavered this time. "Are you sure that will get you the closure you really need," he tried once more.

The vampire was not fooled by his bravado. She gazed calmly at him, a wicked smile spreading into her eyes.

"Yes."