Chapter 4

"She's only a kid!" She repeated, turning to her brother with an accusing glance. "She can't be more than seven!"

Doug's face was closed off. Emotionless. "Well, it's like you said," he told her, repeating her words back to her. "They're evil. They're killers. All of them."

Right then she wanted to strangle her brother. It was a good thing she was holding the flashlight just then. If he had seen the red, murderous rage that crossed her face just then she would never have forgiven herself. The pitch darkness protected her from hurting him—from letting him know what she thought of him just then.

Of course he was closed off. No one could commit such an act and live with himself without closing off. This was the Colonel's doing. How could he kidnap a child? She knew what the Colonel would say if she accused him. He'd say she was getting too soft—losing sight of her one goal. He'd say the schoolteachers were corrupting her.

"There's only one cause, Jamie," he'd told her the night her mother died. "One fight. We have to kill the werewolves. All of them."

Jamie felt her anger draining away. "Yeah," she admitted, "I did say that."

She trained the flashlight back on the little girl, on her fluff of white blond hair and her tear-stained cheeks. The child's eyes flashed silver in the light before she turned her head away, hiding her eyes from the bright light.

"Has she been fed?" she asked.

"What?" Doug began. "Well, no."

"Well go get some food," Jamie instructed. "She can't live here for a month if you don't feed her."

As soon as her brother had left, she took another tentative step toward the girl. The child drew back from her. She continued to move forward until she was three feet away from the mattress. She sat down on the dirt-strewn floor as a gesture of peace.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said gently, training the light just below the girl's face so that she wouldn't hurt her eyes.

The girl didn't respond. She just sniffled.

Jamie could see the werewolf in her already. The nicely trained muscles just below her soft child-like skin. Her eyes shone almost pure silver…but she wasn't evil. She was just a child.

But she'll become evil, her mind whispered. She'll become a killer. It's inevitable. It's in her nature.

But she's not one now! How can we kill her for what she will become?

Jamie turned the flashlight on the girl's hands bound tightly behind her back. So tightly, in fact, that her hands had become pale, virtually bloodless. Jamie swallowed sickly. And the Colonel had tied her hands behind her back. It was a cruel thing to do to a werecub. When the child tried to change, she'd break both arms. Of course, they'd heal almost instantly, but it would hurt. Bad.

She moved toward the girl again and the child whimpered.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to untie you. You need to get some circulation back in your hands."

The child looked as though she didn't understand, but she didn't have any further to retreat. Jamie turned her on her back and took a shot at untying the cords. The knots were tight. It felt like she was working on them for hours, but it wasn't likely more than a few minutes. Luckily, her nails were long enough to aid in her struggle. Finally, the cord fell away onto the ratty mattress.

The child reared up suddenly, her mouth racing for Jamie's bare arm. She had a split second to react. She propelled herself backward, her feet using the springy mattress as leverage. She landed in a crouch a couple feet away.

The child's teeth had nearly grazed her skin. Jamie sighed in relief. Werewolves had venom sacs just above the roofs of their mouths. If the child had managed to open a wound and pump some into her skin, she would have become a werewolf.

Feet pattered against the cement floor in the hall behind her. "What did you do?" Doug demanded.

"I took the cord off her wrists," Jamie responded calmly. "Her hands were practically dead."

Doug snorted. "And look how she repays you."

"She's scared," Jamie found herself defending the werecub. "What would you do in her position?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. I've never been one of them. Thank God."

He dumped the food he was carrying to the floor and unsheathed a silver dagger concealed in his pant leg. He brandished it before the whimpering girl, making Jamie cringe. "Now I don't want anymore trouble," he warned.

She cowered.

Doug picked up the girl by the back of her shirt, taking care to keep his hands away from her mouth. He brought her to the center of the room where a pole was helping to keep the second floor in place. He took out another length of rope and proceeded to tie her waist and the pole together. In moments, she was securely trussed.

"There," he said. "Now you can use your hands to eat. That way I don't have to get near your mouth."

He picked up a bag of orange sticks and placed them in front of her.

"Carrots?" Jamie asked incredulously. "Don't we have any meat? There's no nutritional value in carrots for her."

"Why don't you go look in the fridge?" Doug muttered grumpily. "The only thing else I could find was some orange juice, moldy cheese, and some Mr. Chen take-out that's been in there for a week."

"I guess that means we're ordering again tonight."

"Dad always forgets to shop when he's on a roll," Doug replied.

Jamie nodded and sat cross-legged before the girl. She picked up a carrot and held it before the girl's mouth. The child eyed it with distaste.

"Watch your fingers," Doug warned.

Finally, the child took a small, tentative bite. She chewed it thoughtfully for a moment before an awful expression crossed her face. She managed to swallow it down before she gagged.

"Doug!" The Colonel bellowed down the stairs. "I need you to buy all the stuff for the explosives! And make sure you buy a big chunk of silver!"

"I'm coming!" Doug called.

"And be discrete about it!"

"Aren't I always?" Doug called back. He turned to Jamie before he left. "I'll buy some takeout too."

"I don't suppose they'll sell the chicken to you raw," Jamie muttered.

Doug snorted and hurried up the stairs.

She called after him, but he was already gone. She heard tires squealing out of the driveway. She was going to ask him to buy some raw meat from the supermarket.

She held up the half-eaten carrot before the girl. "Come on," she urged. "It'll make your stomach feel full."

The child shook her head vigorously, speaking for the first time. "I don't like it."

Jamie sighed, letting the carrot drop to the dirt-strewn floor. "Oh God," she muttered, staring up at a ceiling she couldn't see. After all she'd done, no God would help her. Her voice caught as she added. "What have we done to you? God, I'm so sorry!"

She could feel her eyes filling. How had things turned so bad so fast? She had only followed a girl home from school one day. And now this? What did she do to deserve this? A tear spilled over onto her cheek.

The child watched her silently. Jamie had placed the flashlight between them so that both their faces were illuminated.

The child said something unexpected. "My name's Bella. What's your name?"

Jamie broke cardinal rule as she wiped her cheek. "I'm Jamie."

"You're not like them." The girl spoke so simply, so trustingly. As only a child would. "Can you untie me?"

Just when she thought she was in control, her voice cracked again. "I wish I could. I really do."

"What are they going to do to me?" Bella asked.

Jamie didn't have an answer for that one. She couldn't tell the child they planned to kill her.

"They're going to hurt me, aren't they?" the child sniffled. She didn't need Jamie to reply. "Please untie me."

"There's nothing you can do," Jamie said. "If I untie you, the Colonel will catch you before you even leave the house."

"Then you can help me get away," Bella said.

"How old are you?" Jamie asked suddenly, watching the tiny child.

"Seven," Bella responded proudly. "I'll be eight next month."

"Seven," Jamie mused. Clarity struck her then. She knew what she had to do. It was the only right thing to do. Even if the child grew to be a notorious killer. "Yes, I'll help you escape. But not tonight. We got to wait for the right moment or it won't work."

"You're not going to leave me are you?" Bella asked suddenly, her lip trembling. "I don't want to be alone."

Jamie suddenly reached out and wiped some stray tears from Bella's face. For some reason, she was no longer afraid the child would bite her. Bella's stomach grumbled loudly.

"We have to find you something to eat," she muttered.

The girl nodded. "I'm really hungry."

Jamie placed the flashlight into the girl's hands. "You keep this," she instructed, "until I come back. I'm going to get you some food, even if I have to walk the whole way."

The girl nodded stoutly, trying to be brave. She wasn't quite managing it.