Author's Note: Hey everyone! Hope this chapter update brings a smile to your lovely faces. Thanks for your likes and reviews, as always, they make my day. Things are about to get very interesting for our favorite characters! Enjoy!
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The sun rose on a bright but chilly Seabrook the morning of Shore Day.
Wynter sat alone outside the entrance to the den, inhaling the cool morning air. She had woken up way earlier than normal, despite generally being the type of wolf who preferred to sleep in. Especially on one of the first cool days of Autumn, when she could curl up in the warmth of the pile of blankets on her bed.
But something about today had her feeling fidgety.
She wasn't sure why. Charon was still in jail, and would remain there for the foreseeable future. Today would be a day of fun and celebration with her friends. Addison and Bree were bringing a large tent for them to sit under, and Zed and Bonzo were bringing the supplies to play beach volleyball, whatever that was.
There would also be tons of food, according to her human friends, as well as other games and rides. She had been to the beach a few times, but had never had the guts to ride the rickety old roller coaster which was a permanent fixture at the large pier along the water. Maybe today would be the day that she would finally try it out.
Maybe Wynter's mood was due to the rather melancholic story that she had heard last night at the Crater. Of course she loved a good story as much as the next wolf, but why in the world had Hala chosen a story that was such a downer? Though, she couldn't deny that everyone had liked it; the end of the tale had been followed by thunderous applause, first from the humans and zombies, then by the wolves and a few hesitant Lunites as well. The Lunites could certainly tell a good story.
After the story-telling session had ended, the large group had spent the rest of their time together talking and getting to know one another. Wynter had even made friends with two more Lunites, Nikini and Esmaray, who seemed to share her penchant for fun and mischief. She was looking forward to seeing them again at school, and perhaps today as well.
Still, despite the general good vibes she had gotten from their visit at the Crater, something just felt off about this morning.
Wynter clutched at her moonstone necklace, smooth warm and comfortingly familiar to her. She had been wearing it since the day she was born, of course. She rubbed her thumb along the front of the stone, contemplating the little stone and its origins. It had been chipped off of the wolves' moonstone hundreds of years ago, and had been passed down through the generations since before the pack could remember.
But while she knew the history of her own moonstone necklace, there was another moonstone somewhere in Seabrook that she knew nothing about. And that was the problem, wasn't it? Where was the second moonstone?
The entire city had been searched over the last couple of days. Every old warehouse and decrepit building, and any other forgotten or rarely-used buildings in both Zombietown and Seabrook. The Lunites had even searched their myriad of underground rooms and tunnels. But nothing had been turned up; and asking the villain himself had been another dead end. Charon was definitely not sharing his secrets with anyone, despite multiple interrogations with Chief Dale and the Lunite elders.
The scraping of boots against the rocky ground announced Wyatt's arrival, as he trotted over to where Wynter sat along the edge of the large outcropping. He slid down next to her, dangling his feet next to hers over the edge as he gave her a friendly nudge.
"Couldn't sleep?" Wyatt asked, shooting her a quick grin. "Normally, Willa has to come in and shake you awake so you aren't late for school."
Wynter shrugged. "What can I say? A girl needs her beauty sleep."
They sat in silence for a minute, listening to the sounds of nature as the forest awakened around them. Despite Wynter's inner worries, it was an oddly peaceful moment.
"Everything okay, Wynter?" Wyatt finally asked, after a long stretch of comfortable tranquility.
"Totally." Wynter replied automatically, though her flippant attitude didn't exactly match up with her inner worries. "I guess I couldn't sleep because I'm too excited about today. Everyone's been talking it up so much, ya know?"
Wyatt smiled again, his fangs glinting in the morning light. They both watched as a sparrow took flight between two large trees in front of them, fluttering upwards towards the rising sun.
"Yeah," he replied after a moment. "Definitely gonna be a big day, that's for sure. Our first big event with wolves, zombies, Lunites and humans all together as one community. Plus, Willa's proposal tonight."
He sighed. "Lot's of changes coming up. But in a good way, ya know?"
Wynter nodded and offered him a returning smile, appreciating his optimism. "Yeah. It's just... It's bothering me that no one seems to be worried about the missing moonstone."
Her eyes widened as a multitude of worries came tumbling out of her brain. "I mean, what if Charon hid it in the town's water supply," she waved her hands with slightly frantic energy. "And it turns everyone's regular heads into cat heads, and we all have to use litter boxes and eat mice and can only communicate by MEOWING AT EACH OTHER?"
Wyatt blinked, staring at her with one eyebrow raised in shock with his mouth slightly open.
There was a beat of awkward silence.
"Too much?" Wynter asked, slowly lowering her hands back to her sides.
"Uh, yeah." Wyatt said, rolling his eyes. "Just a bit."
Two more birds fluttered out of their nests in the trees, squawking as they greeted the day.
Then, he released a short chuckle. Wynter joined him too.
"Okay," She said, brushing her hair back behind her pointed ear. "So maybe I'm a little dramatic. But, still, aren't you just a little bit worried? Nobody has any idea what he was planning on doing today."
"Sure," Wyatt said. "But wherever the moonstone is, it's not in Seabrook. If it was, someone would have found it by now. And whatever his plans were, Charon's in no position to do anything about it, now. Aruna's probably guarding him as we speak, actually."
Wynter shrugged lightly. Her packmate had a point. Maybe she really was overthinking things. And besides, even if something were to go awry, there wasn't much that their pack or group of friends couldn't handle when they stuck together.
"You're right," she finally admitted, nodding her head firmly as one of the birds returned to its nest in front of them. The bird ducked it's head back down and out of sight, with a pilfered worm hanging from its beak.
"Of course I am," Wyatt said, examining his claws casually with a faux look of superiority. "That's why everyone likes me more."
She laughed, shoving him playfully but perhaps too forcefully. Her push, which caught him entirely off guard, sent Wyatt tumbling off of the rock ledge and into the thick blanket of multicolored leaves that covered the ground around them. He landed with a soft "oof," sending leaves flying in all directions.
Wynter heard Willa laughing behind her, and immediately joined in.
Wyatt climbed to his feet, his hair and clothing covered in a mosaic of orange, yellow and red. He had a frown on his face as he glared her down, but Wynter could see the amusement in his eyes as he began picking leaves out of his hair.
"What's so funny, Willa?" He asked, shaking himself like a dog would shake off water.
But Willa, it seemed, was laughing too hard to answer, shaking her head as she leaned against the wall of the den entrance.
"Some packmates you both are," Wyatt grumbled, spitting a twig out of his mouth. He pointed an accusatory finger at Wynter, who was still giggling incessantly. "See if I ever try to be nice to you again!"
Both of the female wolves cackled with laughter. Rapidly, Wyatt swung back his leg and kicked hard into the leaf pile, sending a billowing cloud of fall foliage onto Wynter and Willa. Then, they were all laughing, hard enough that tears were rolling down their faces as they each tried to pick leaves out of their hair.
Maybe today would turn out alright after all.
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The morning sunlight was streaming down into the little room through the narrow window, which rested at the top of the beige brick wall. Charon glared up at it, pacing back and forth as he contemplated his derailed plans.
He should have escaped from the Z-Patrol car the other night, when he'd had the chance. But he hadn't counted on the Lunites outing themselves, and him in the process. Nor had he planned on Starlight and the others revealing any of his misdeeds to the officials of Seabrook.
Now, his sparkling reputation was sullied, and he was sitting alone in a cell with bland beige walls. Not to mention the atrocious powder blue scrubs they had him wearing, rather than his far more comfortable designer suit. He was missing his clothes and his Euro top mattress. The cot in the little cell left much to be desired. He had never felt more his age than he had waking up the past few mornings here, all rumpled hair and aching joints.
He did feel a deep regret that the city would almost certainly be turned against him by now, including his friends and colleagues in City Hall. His reputation meant a great deal to him, and he'd certainly spent a long time building it up.
But he could fix it. He could fix all of it.
If he could just manage to get out of here.
There was still time to put his plan into action. Everything was in place. Charon just had to be there to set things in motion.
To his right, he heard the hall door open. His last Lunite guard had just taken their leave, and so he was sure that a new one would now be coming in. Maybe it would be that boy, Qamar, who had tackled him a few nights before. Charon had enjoyed having him as a guard the last few times he had been here.
He couldn't manipulate him, the young Lunite was too strong for that. But he could show Qamar pictures of horrible thoughts his mind, of the things Charon might do to the boy's human soulmate if he were to escape. Qamar may have been pretty good at blocking Charon out, but he'd still managed to find that little fact out.
The last time Qamar had been here to guard, he had nearly punched through the bars and into the cell. This had been in response to a particularly gruesome torture idea that Charon had in mind for Bucky. It hadn't helped Charon escape, but it had given him a good laugh at the younger Lunite's expense. Though truthfully, if he had the chance, he might make good on his mental threats to Qamar. The boys had both aided in his capture, after all. That air-headed cheerleader had it coming, and a few extra scars wouldn't kill him.
He turned his head to the side to view the approaching Lunite, a young woman who had not yet had guard duty with him. Her almond shaped eyes met his, and he grinned.
Hello, Aruna.
She didn't answer, frowning at him as she took her seat. Walking right behind her was Gus, the Z-Patrol Officer who was on shift to watch him this morning.
Aruna sat on the bench across from him, glaring as she crossed her arms together. The girl was all but pouting at being here. He wondered why, and immediately listened in.
...unfair that I have to be here, I'm going to miss all of the fun! Of all the mornings the elders could have put me on the guard schedule, it just HAD to be the morning of Shore Day. I just want to spend time with the humans and wolves and zombies, and see what the ocean looks like...
The Lunite girl huffed out a frustrated sigh. Her thoughts were a distracted mess of boredom, bitterness, and jealousy towards her friends. He could read her like a book, so distracted was she from her task of guarding him. She didn't want guard duty. She wanted excitement. She wanted adventure.
Charon could work with this. His smile widened, feeling like a shark flashing its teeth at an oblivious fish.
Bored are we, Aruna? He asked, tilting his head to the side in sympathy. I could help you out with that, if you want.
Leave me alone. She replied, jutting her chin out stubbornly, though her curiosity kept her from blocking out his next words entirely.
I can tell that you are yearning for an adventure. You've been stuck underground your whole life, waiting for something exciting to happen. You deserve that, Aruna. And I can give you the adventure of a lifetime, I promise you.
No. She replied, but her eyes flickered with reluctant interest.
Gus had pulled out a crossword puzzle book and was diligently working on it. He had grown complacent, relying on the other Lunites to keep him safe and to keep Charon at bay.
Yes. Charon stated, smiling at her. All you have to do is help me get out of this place, Aruna. And I swear, I will give Seabrook the most exciting day it has ever seen!
Aruna met his eyes, and for a split second, her guard dropped completely as she contemplated his tempting words.
It was all the opening he needed.
In a flash, Aruna had grabbed the ring of keys from Gus' belt, and tossed them into Charon's cell. Then, Charon focused his powers on the human sitting next to her. Gus slumped to the floor, unconscious. His crossword puzzle tumbled to the ground as well, the little pencil he had been using snapping as Gus' arm landed across it.
Aruna yelped out in disbelief, staring down at her own hand in disbelief at what she had just done.
"No!" Aruna cried, frantically trying to put her mental shields back up. But Charon was too fast for her, and then she was on the floor too.
It had all taken less than ten seconds.
Charon stood calmly from the cot in the little cell, and strode over to the center of the room. He bent to quietly snatch up the key ring, running his fingers rapidly across each key until he found the one with the number which corresponded to his cell. He reached his arm out between the bars, bending his wrist at an awkward angle in order to turn the mechanism.
The lock opened with a deep, clanking noise, and the door swung out towards the two crumpled figures on the floor. Charon grinned as the heavy metal door bounced against Aruna, hitting her shoulder hard. She remained still and unmoving, but it was bound to leave a deep and painful bruise. Good. Her friends had certainly left him with plenty. Though if all went according to his plan, who knew what shape Aruna would be in, come tomorrow.
Twirling the key ring quietly in his hand, Charon stepped over their bodies and strode down the little hall. After a quick glance into the little window of the door to ensure that no one was in the accompanying room, Charon twisted the handle, and quickly stepped out into the main floor of the Z-Patrol station.