Amber fished for a key in her pocket, looking about the deserted street with a furtive glance. The street was dark and lonely. Her hand shook slightly as she placed the key in the lock. Jamie noted the werewolf's nervousness with satisfaction and filed it away for later use. She might be able to use this to her advantage. The four didn't want to get caught kidnapping a fellow classmate.
They directed her into the drug store. They moved passed rows of shelves to the back of the store. The pharmacy countertop gleamed in the dim lights. There was a small door, which they used to get behind the counter. Leigh touched the bottles of medicine in the cubbyholes with paperwork.
"Hmm," Leigh said with a chuckle, tossing her long black hair behind her shoulders. Her body was sheathed in leather, all the way from her black leather jacket to her tight leather pants. "Which ones of these could we use on her? Or better yet," she added with a glint, "which ones could we use on me?"
Amber slapped one of Leigh's hands that was reaching toward a medicine bottle. "Don't touch anything," she chided. "Those are tomorrow's orders. Dad'll notice if anything goes missing."
Leigh let out a sigh.
"Besides," Amber added, "One of these days you're really going to hurt yourself. Don't play with drugs."
Alec smiled tolerantly and Porter only shook his head, directing Jamie through another set of doors. She found herself in a tiny staff room with two brown couches that must have come out of the eighties. They were hideous.
Porter reached out to touch her, but stopped. A blush creeped over his cheeks. "Amber," he suggested. "Why don't you search her?"
Amber was a like a prison-warden over the whole matter. She ripped Jamie's keys from her pocket, along with her wallet, tossing them onto the couch. Alec picked the wallet up, curiously. He took out the driver's license and peered at it. "Jamie Roberta Vince. You're seventeen years old. You're 5'8"" he continued, "and a 130 lbs."
Jamie glared at him as he continued to search through her wallet.
Amber pulled the silver dagger from its hiding place in her pant leg. She handed it to Leigh, who brandished it with a contemplative glance. The dark-haired girl slid her finger along the surface, taking care to keep her fingers away from the sharp edge. Silver cuts took time to heal.
"So she knows about us," Leigh said to the group. "She knows what we are."
The boys were standing perfectly still, their eyes transfixed on the blade. Porter's eyes rose to Jamie's face in disbelief. She supposed none of them had ever met a werewolf hunter before.
"I found one more thing," Amber announced, holding the cell phone high. She opened it up to display the numbers. "Quite an antique," she mentioned and added disdainfully. "Can't mommy and daddy afford any better than this?"
Leigh took the dagger and set it up in a cupboard, as if the sight of it revolted her.
"And look at this," Amber continued, "The number one is practically worn off. It must be a speed dial."
She waved the phone in front of Jamie's face. "Who does it call?"
Jamie just sent her a dark look. She didn't have to answer the girl.
Porter stood from his seat on the disgustingly brown couch. He moved to stand just in front of her. "Who does it call, Jamie?"
Something was so soothing about his voice. She knew she shouldn't reply, but she did anyway. Jamie sighed. "My dad. It calls my dad."
"And does your dad know where Bella is?"
She just shrugged.
He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes unnervingly bright and knowing. It was as if he was ripping the answers from her head. But he wasn't. He couldn't read her mind. She knew that now. He was just too observant for his own good.
"I see," he said after a long pause, running a hand through his sandy hair. He held out his other hand toward Amber. "May I see the phone?"
Amber passed it to him. "Put it on speaker. We want to hear too."
He did as she asked, dialing the number one button. Leigh and Alec crowded closer in anticipation. The phone rang three times before the Colonel's voice came bellowing out of the phone. "Jamie? Where are you? When I said to take a run I meant a short one! We have plans to make!"
Jamie didn't reply. Porter beat her to it.
"Mr. Vince?" He said in a loud and confident voice.
"Who is this?" The Colonel bellowed. "What are you doing with my daughter's phone? I told Jamie she wasn't allowed to have boyfriends, so just you think about that before you try to hook up with my daughter."
"Mr. Vince," Porter continued once her father had said his piece. "We have your daughter and we know you have Bella. We're willing to make a trade."
The phone was silent for a moment before her father continued, "No, I don't think I want to do that."
Alec added in an in a grating voice, leaning over Porter's shoulder. "We'll kill her."
The phone was silent again and Jamie closed her eyes. She felt an icy shiver race up her spine at Alec's words. She crossed her fingers as she waited impatiently for her father's reply. Just do it, dad, she thought pleadingly. Then Bella would be safe and so would she. That's all that mattered.
"No trade," the Colonel replied finally, emotionlessly. "There are some losses you have to take for the greater good."
The four werewolves stared between Jamie and the phone dubiously. Congratulations, dad, she thought bitterly. You managed to stump them. She didn't know why she had expected any differently. It was all about destroying the 'wolves—never mind her. She might as well have died along with her mother, then he actually might have loved her.
"I'll call you within a week's time with my terms," The Colonel finished. The phone clicked dead.
"Well," she feigned a smile, involuntarily switching to a bitter grimace. Knots twisted in her stomach. "What did you expect?"
Porter pulled a hand through his hair, helplessly. "Why do you hunt us?" He asked finally. "Why us, when the evil is in your own backyard."
He was good, she thought. Very good. For a moment she almost wanted to believe Porter had a heart.
She snorted. "Don't tell me you've never hunted a human before."
She nodded with sick glee as the four werewolves looked at each other wordlessly. They had no answer for that one.