Chapter 13

Rhydian and Tom walked through the DVD section at a second-hand shop nearby. Rhydian had already found some movies that would be good and Tom had loaded his arms with other DVDs and a handful of games.

"What have you got?" Rhydian asked as they met up near the counter. Tom started counting DVDs off as he went.

"I've got The Covenant, The Alien Anthology, The Thing 2011, Predator 2, the Big Momma's House trilogy and Transformers Dark of the Moon. That's it for DVDs. I also found a beaten up old Xbox 360 in the house, so I grabbed Prototype, Halo 3 ODST, Alan Wake, Dark Sector and Devil May Cry 4. That should keep us busy for as long as we're here."

"Awesome." Rhydian grinned. "I got Aliens VS Predator Requiem since I left my copy at home, Freddy VS Jason, Godzilla VS Kong and Cats and Dogs The Revenge of Kitty Galore because we need a laugh right now. I also found a beaten-up copy of Virals and I'm thinking of getting it for Maddy because it's actually a surprisingly good read. Seriously, someone at school showed it to me. I'm not a big one for fiction books, but I read it and realised I'd seriously been missing out."

Barry moved in discreetly and took the stuff from them, going to the counter to pay. Tom and Rhydian lingered off to the side until he'd finished and returned carrying a bag with their stuff in it. As they turned to leave, they saw someone bump into Maurice, who was standing outside. Instantly, he gave chase and the boys moved outside to see what the fuss was about. Rhydian and Barry instantly caught the scent.

"That was a Wolfblood." Barry realised. Both the Wolfblood and Maurice were long gone now. Barry knew he'd just have to stick with the boys and hope that any danger had left with Maurice chasing after it. That was when they noticed the envelope on the ground. It had Maddy's name on it in stunted red writing, a red lipstick kiss in the corner and a red ribbon tied to the top. Tom reached for it, but Rhydian and Barry both stopped him.

"Do you smell that?" Rhydian asked, looking up at Barry. Barry nodded before turning his attention to Tom.

"Do not touch that! Except for the ribbon, do you understand?" Tom nodded and gingerly picked the envelope up by the ribbon. Barry took out a plastic evidence bag and held it open. At his nod, Tom gently manoeuvred the envelope into it. It wasn't quite big enough, so the edge of the envelope protruded from the bag, but the lettering and kiss were all enclosed. It would do until he could secure it properly. He placed it inside his blazer, repulsed at having it so close to him but not wanting to draw attention to it either. At that moment, Maddy Shannon, Jana, Robyn and Francis all came rushing over.

"What the hell was that?" Francis asked as they reached Barry's side. "Maurice just went blasting past us but didn't seem to be chasing anyone."

"Someone bumped into him and dropped this at his feet." Barry fished out the envelope and held it up briefly.

"But there was no one running from him." Maddy echoed Francis' earlier statement.

"I would have joined the chase if they were." Robyn nodded. A troubled look crossed Shannon's face.

"If someone was going to go drop something at someone's feet like that, then they would have to know that person had a connection to their real target. That thing has Maddy's name on it, meaning they must have known Maurice is a Segolia agent and that he would chase them. That also means they know Maddy is under your protection." Robyn paled as she realised Shannon was right.

"Maurice could be walking into a trap!" She lifted a hand to her earpiece. "Maurice, come in! Do you hear me?" The only response was static.

"Isn't your other guy in the command centre?" Rhydian asked, looking at Barry. "Could you try and get a signal through him?"

"Yes!" Shannon realised Rhydian was right. "The transmitter would be stronger!" Barry switched channels and tried to contact Carl.

"Carl, this is Barry. Do you copy? We've lost contact with Maurice!" In response, static howled in his ear powerfully enough that he screwed his face up in pain and yanked out his earpiece, only putting it back in when the din had stopped. Francis decided to try next.

"This is Francis transmitting in the blind to any Segolia units in the area! Radio check! Someone pick the hell up!" This time, the static hit full-force. His enhanced hearing was blindsided by the sudden noise and it cut his legs from under him before he could remove his earpiece as Barry had managed to.

"Looks like all Segolia frequencies are being jammed." Maddy looked around anxiously, suddenly very aware of how exposed they were. A few people had stopped now and were staring, concerned about Francis. They'd seen him go down like that and he was now in a bad way. That didn't stop him though, and with Barry's help he dragged himself back to his feet.

"No, this is more direct." Shannon shook her head. "The more they tried, the worse it got. I think they're being deliberately targeted. Whoever this is, they want us cut off."

"But they'd need to hack through our master firewall for that." Barry protested. "The world's most advanced supercomputer is twenty years away from being able to crack our security because our system detects any computer's binary signature and remotely shuts it down!"

"Who the hell would be nursing a grudge against me with that level of computer knowledge?" Maddy ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "There's literally no one! It doesn't make sense!"

"Okay, I think the best thing we can do is get you back to the safehouse." Barry said as he pulled the bag with the envelope out and handed it to Robyn. "Robyn, get Francis and the kids back. Make sure that Francis is okay and brief Carl on what's going on. I'm going to head in Maurice's direction and see if I can find him."

"Be safe." Robyn nodded. Barry took off as Robyn and Francis started herding the kids towards the waiting van that they'd brought them out in. It was a short walk away and they climbed in without an issue. As soon as Robyn was in the driver's seat and Francis was strapped in, she gunned the engine and totally ignored the speed limit.

"So much for staying under the radar." Maddy muttered as she tried to fight off a rising queasy feeling.

"Well, the freedom was nice." Jana sighed as she leaned on one elbow and looked out the window. "I hate the city and I'm not fond of shopping, but I'll take it over cabin fever any day."

"Well, hopefully it won't be for much longer." Shannon patted Jana on the back. "When we get back to Stoneybridge, you three can run so fast and hard your shoes melt. Until then, we need to keep a lid on it."

"When we get communications back up, I'll be asking for authorisation to give you the burners." Robyn told them.

"That's not going to involve fire again, is it?" Jana asked, a panicked note creeping in. "I was having nightmares about fire-breathing gnomes after yesterday!"

"No, they're tablets that Segolia has developed for Wolfbloods to use." Robyn explained. "In humans, they put them to sleep for hours on end. With us, they burn through your energy and make you feel like you ran a marathon. We use them on undercover cases where going out frequently isn't an option. For us, I really don't think it's on the cards again any time soon."

"Well, I've got enough movies to keep us busy." Tom held up the bag with the DVDs in.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Rhydian leaned over and reached into the bag to grab the book. "Here you go, Maddy. This should help pass the time." He handed her the book and she instantly realised it was the one he'd been telling her about.

"Thanks, Rhydian." Maddy said as she gripped his hand, realising that she was too far away to plant a kiss on his cheek. Somehow, that was what troubled her the most.

When they got back to the safehouse, Emma and Dan were instantly at the door to meet them. Carl had alerted them that the van's tracker showed it heading back earlier than expected, so concerned looks were plastered on their faces.

"What are you doing back so early?" Dan said as he moved to help them with their bags.

"They know." Robyn said as she supported Francis' weight. He'd removed his earpiece properly this time and blood was trickling out of his ear. The frequency had clearly ruptured his eardrum and he was staggering as though he was drunk. "Whoever this is, they just jammed our comms and lured Maurice away from the pack. He's MIA. Barry's gone to find him but we had to stay with the kids for obvious reasons."

"Okay, let's just get inside." Emma ushered everyone in and shut the door. Robyn got Barry to the armchair in the corner and sat him down. He was pale and kept looking around frantically. The frequency had clearly damaged his hearing and so he was trying to use his sight to compensate. It was a standard Wolfblood response.

"I'm going up to brief Carl." Robyn stayed on his right side, speaking up so he'd hear her. "Stay there. I'll give you first aid later." Francis nodded and so Robyn hurried upstairs. When she got there, she pulled out the envelope to show him.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This was left by Maurice's feet when someone bumped him." Robyn said as he reached down into a drawer. "It's why he chased them."

"Right. You know the protocol for unknown envelopes." Carl pulled out a box of disposable gloves, face masks and goggles. "Has anyone touched this with their bare hands?"

"I'll check downstairs after we've examined it." Robyn replied, gearing up as Carl unsealed a sterile tray and grabbed a scalpel and a set of scissors. "No point panicking them until we know what's in here." Carl hit the button to seal the room and then placed the envelope in the tray. He moved the scalpel along the slit in the top of it to cut the paper at the top before gripping it at the bottom and angling the tray down. A piece of paper inside slipped out, but no obviously malicious contents such as white powder appeared to be present. Robyn carefully took the paper inside from the tray and opened it out. The threat inside was written in the same substance as Maddy's name on the outside as well as the kiss print. Robyn didn't need her sense of smell to know it was blood. It wasn't fake movie blood, either. It was as real as the threat that was written on the inside.

"Your time is coming, Maddy.

-Taylor."