A/N: WOW it's been years since I've updated this story! (7/3/2016?) I've been fiddling with it since then, so I hope you enjoy where I'm going with it... (I somehow managed to write this entire chapter with a blister on the tip of my finger lol)

Evan's POV

I was humming as I walked home, waving goodbye to Kermit and Andy in turn. I'd had a good day, despite the panic that had set in my chest at the thought of Monster Blood. It was nice to meet Grady, even if we could only communicate by email.

I decided to sit down at Kermit's house and email him as soon as possible.

But for now, I had dinner. And besides that, I could see dark clouds rolling in on the edge of town.

Or, well, I thought it was clouds. It was mostly just dark. And I could smell something burning. Smoky. Maybe it was a fire?

If it was, it looked far away enough for me not to worry about it. I decided that I'd had enough adventure for the day, and walked home to get greeted by Trigger.

Third person POV (Grady's car)

"Mm," Dr. Tucker hummed, sounding worried.

"What's wrong, honey?" the other Dr. Tucker asked, looking up from his brochure for the next year's conference. Grady had been disappointed when he found out Atlanta wasn't hosting it the next year.

"Oh, just... that doesn't look good," Dr. Tucker said, pointing at the road in front of her. There was a barricade, and several traffic police milling around, directing cars back toward the city. And even more ominously, there was some sort of dark haze over the trees ahead, where the road vanished from visiblity.

"What...?" Dr. Tucker leaned forward, squinting through his glasses. "That wasn't there yesterday. Is there a bridge out?"

Dr. Tucker slowed as they reached the barricade, and one of the more officially dressed men walked up. "Ma'am," he said when she rolled the window down, "you're going to have to turn around."

"Why?" she asked, ever the curious one. But besides that, she deserved to know why she wasn't allowed to take her children as soon as possible. They didn't seem to care, Emily on her phone and Grady staring out the window, but she did.

"Ma'am, please..." The man paused, then sighed. "There's... been an issue on this side of town. They've shut down all the roads this way, so you'll have to go the far way around. I can't divulge anymore than that."

Dr. Tucker leaned from the passenger seat to see the officer, adjusting his glasses. "I'm sorry, what? It looks like there's just been a fire. You can't tell us that much?"

The officer looked almost nervous now, glancing back behind their car. Apparently, people were starting to line up, and a few horns were beginning to blare. "Look, I-"

Grady perked up from the backseat. Because of his werewolf senses, especially as close to the full moon as this, he could smell the sweat down the officer's neck, his heart beating faster. And when he noticed that, he turned and could see the man biting his lip, glancing around.

"Do you not know?" Grady asked, making his parents jump and turn to shush him, but...

The officer, if less trained, would have flinched. He sighed. "No, I... I don't. There were some people, earlier, who informed us to close the road, but that's all we were told. They said it was 'classified,'" he added, using air quotes.

Emily finally looked up at this. "Wait, so we're not just getting delayed? We're not allowed to know why, either?" She gave a stink eye that made Grady want to wince, and she wasn't even looking at him.

The officer shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry. But I'm sure you'll find out later, on the news."

Dr. Tucker sighed, shaking her head. "Alright. Fine. Thanks," she tacked out, out of politeness. She waited for the officer to back away, and then pulled a U-turn, leading a string of cars to let off their horns and turn with her.

Grady stared out the back window at the officer, still directing traffic with a few others. He couldn't see any cars coming up to the barricade from the other side, which he supposed was normal. But the smell coming off the breeze, from the direction of that black haze... it smelled like fire, and not the kind when you set up a little bit of wood and sticks and leaves in the backyard and tell spooky stories under a nearly full moon. It smelled like plastic, or like the tire fires he sometimes smelled when his school bus drove past the dumps in Jacksonville. It was a gross smell, of something toxic and awful.

And it was getting stronger.