Another week went by with nothing much happening. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal now. The whispers had stopped. But for some reason I still wasn't satisfied.
Just because the murders had stopped for now didn't mean they hadn't stopped all together. There was still someone out there who had killed three people, and not knowing what to do about it was driving me insane.
Plus, in about another two weeks, there was another full moon. I was going to have to work up some good excuses for that. I was still noticing lots of changes in myself.
For starters, gym was never as hard as it used to be. My energy never seemed to run out. I was stronger than the entire football team put together. (That was discovered totally by accident really, one of them pissed me off when he wouldn't stop hitting on me. So I literally hit him, and he fell out a two story window. Boy, was the coach livid.) I managed to avoid trouble in there when Amber came to my defence and brainwashed the jerk. Well, the first one had asked for it. I could heal quickly from any injury.
But this psycho problem was still getting on my nerves. I knew the Pack Council were "watching me". Every time I turned around I kept expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows and staring at me.
After school that day I decided to find Amber and see if she had any ideas on what to do. She hadn't been at school, and after I'd called her house, her mother told me she had gone into town.
I was a little suspicious. What was she doing off if she wasn't sick? I spotted her car outside the black Dahlia. I also noticed Blaine's convertible too.
And I was jealous, why? Blaine and I had been out a couple of times earlier on in the week, but nothing had really happened between us. I was starting to figure the Pack had just sent him to keep me out of trouble.
But I hadn't *done* anything. I was sure I hadn't. Well - almost. Oh this was impossible. I pushed the door open and headed inside. I spotted Amber and Blaine at a secluded little table in a dark corner.
Amber looked up and waved. I headed over, trying not to look too irritated. "Why weren't you in school?" I asked, sitting down.
"I had Night World things to take care of," Amber said simply. "Circle business comes before school."
"You look rather peeved," Blaine said, head tilted to one side. He was eyeing me as if nothing had happened, and I was the one out my mind. I didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him.
Finally, I told them everything. Even though they probably knew what had happened, what we didn't know, was somehow, I felt certain it was all connected to me somehow.
"So what do you want to do about it?" Amber asked.
I shook my head. "I don't know," I said softly. Everything seemed to go back to the woods. That was where it had all started. It was easy to kill someone there, you were unlikely to be spotted. Whoever he - or she - was, they were likely to return to the scene of the crime.
"I still think the answer is somewhere in the woods. There's got to be some sort of clue, or he's got a hideout there, it's just logical," I said finally.
"But searching the woods would take forever!" Amber complained. My eyes rolled. For someone who loved hiking, why was she changing her mind now, when it came to actually going back?
Blaine's fingers were drumming on the table top. If he kept it up, he was going to be to be the second person I threw out a window. "I could get a couple of the Pack to help us out. We know the woods."
I was confused. "Why would they listen to you?"
He looked at me evenly, but I could see a hint of annoyance. "I'm next in line for alpha male," he said simply. "I just need to keep in Isabella's good books."
I just looked at him. He'd never mentioned this before. "You're not exactly one of Isabella's favourite people at the moment," I pointed out, smiling faintly.
He glared at me. "I *know*. If we catch this murderer, she'll like us more."
Always looking out for Number One. Men. Ugh. "That's all well and good for you, but what about *me*?"
He just shrugged. "I'll be blunt. The Council think it's you because new wolves can't control themselves. If we get this psycho, it'll clear your name."
I hated it when he was right. So we had a plan at last. And it looked like I would have to miss classes tomorrow. What a shame. Well, I thought, trying not to smirk too hard. Pack business comes first.
We had a plan. At last. Now all we had to do was put it into action and hope we were successful.
Something was telling me I wasn't going to like what we'd find.
* * *
The next morning as far as my parents were concerned I was playing the good daughter and heading off to school just like I was supposed to. If anything went wrong, Amber had promised me she could always brainwash them into thinking just that.
Amber's car was waiting for me outside. We were heading off to the woods to hunt for clues in this psychotic murderer case. I was getting pretty sick of getting the blame for most things that had been going wrong lately.
This was my chance to prove to everyone that they were all wrong. If only we could find something useful. Amber was unusually quieter than usual.
My mind returned to the first time she had dragged us to the woods. And to think I had been worried about *The Blair Witch* coming to get us. There were worse monsters here than there were in Mary-Land.
Then again, considering what I'd learned about the Night World, it made me wonder if there was a slight bit of truth to the ledged. There were witches, after all. One was driving the car I was sat in.
I cut off the thought. Jeez, what was I thinking? I realised with a sinking feeling that I didn't really want to know what was hidden in the woods. I was trying to think of anything but that.
But it was the only way I could get the suspicion off myself and on somebody else. And as long as no one thought of me as a murderer, that was all that mattered, really.
Blaine was supposed to be meeting us at the entrance to the woods with a couple of other Pack members. He was stood by his car, waiting for me. There were three other people with him. To my annoyance I noticed they were all girls.
I couldn't distract myself with brooding over Blaine, right now. I had other things I needed to focus on. A task to complete, and hopefully some results to find.
Blaine nodded at us. Then at the three girls. "This is Elizabeth, Diana and Sharla. That's Seraphin and Amber. They're going to help us do the hunting. We'll be better off doing this search individually; the more of us there are spread out, the better. We can keep I touch with our telepathy."
I didn't like the idea of him suddenly taking charge. This whole thing had been my idea. Just because he was higher up in Pack ranks than I was he thought he had the right to be in charge of everything?
I watched the three other girls heading off into the woods, like good soldiers. Amber and Blaine were standing close together, talking softly.
I shook off thoughts of jealous and headed out into the surrounding forest myself. I tried to think where the first body had been found. But how the hell was I supposed to know that?
Maybe I would have more luck if I shifted to search. But Blaine had said that werewolves could only shift during the full moon. So that put a damper on that idea.
I sighed heavily. This wasn't really getting anywhere. What if I tried to look nearer the Pack mansion?
Before I could get very far I heard the sound of gunshots. Loud like bombs exploding, and near by. A piercing scream shot through the air.
The scream sounded familiar.
Then I realised why.
They were coming from Amber.
* * *
