A/N: Hey, all! Second chapter of Stone Witch Heat! Just in case you missed it, this is the 3rd in the WayHaught ABO series. 1) Not so Typical 2) Best Left Buried 3) Stone Witch Heat.
This chapter has a lot of setup about what's gonna start going down in the next chapter. Or you know...who is gonna go down. ;) That was a horrible joke. I'm sorry I subjected you to that. Here it is!
The cashier stretched, glancing with longing at the clock hanging on the wall, above the posters detailing the offer of the month.
Half hour.
Half hour, and he could finally go home, crack open a cold one on his porch and finish reading that Supernatural Destiel fanfiction he'd started days ago. Not that he'd ever admit to knowing what fanfiction was.
He'd already cleaned all the aisles, taking advantage of the fact it seemed to be a slow night, swept and washed the floors and counted up the money.
The doorbell jingled and he groaned inwardly, rolling his eyes before turning towards the late customer, a fake smile plastered on his face.
Smile that turned genuine and a tad confused when he spotted the Sheriff hovering on the doorstep. Nedley never shopped this late.
"Come on in. Sheriff!" He waved in welcome, "we're still open."
"So sorry, Bill," Nedley shuffled forward tiredly, looking embarrassed, "I got home from work and realized my fridge was empty."
The cashier nodded in understanding, and watched the Sheriff waddle down the frozen food aisle. The man was still in his uniform, and it looked a bit rumpled, as if he had been sleeping in it.
Bill shook his head with a sad smile. Nedley needed to find himself a good woman, who'd feed him real food and not the frozen shit full of preservatives he insisted on eating. Perhaps he should invite him to Shorty's one Friday, get him out and about a bit. Purgatory didn't have much of a nightlife but the Sheriff was almost a hermit he reckoned.
They used to go fishing and hunting together, but had drifted apart over the years, and Bill thought that an attempt to revive their friendship surely couldn't hurt.
He was brought back to the present by the rattling of an approaching shopping cart, and his eyes widened as he saw the amount of food Nedley had thrown inside. His eyes widened in surprise; usually Nedley just used a shopping basket since eating and cooking for one didn't take up a lot of space.
"Throwing a party, Sheriff?" He asked, curious and also a bit hurt that the man wouldn't invite him if that was the case, "that's an awful lot of bratwurst."
"Oh? Oh..no. Just," Nedley shrugged, "work's been piling up these past few days. Keep getting weird calls, so I may not have time to make another round of shopping."
Bill nodded sagely and began to scan the Sheriff's purchases, quickly losing count of the boxes of frozen pizza, hot pockets and tubs of ice cream. There was enough goddam food in that cart to feed the whole Precinct and then some.
He had to help the Sheriff load everything into the back of his truck, then watched as the man drove away into the night. There had been a strange light in Nedley's eyes, almost hungry.
And he was oddly relieved as he saw the truck speed off until it was nothing but a red glow of taillights and then vanished around a bend in the road.
Nedley stared at Bill's figure through the rearview mirror, then the supermarket disappeared from view, hidden behind dark houses and shuttered stores. He sped towards his house and when he was sure he had the road - and the night - to himself he pulled over, reaching for the bags piled high on his back seat. He rummaged, cursing when a tub of Ben & Jerry's fell between the seats then his hand closed around a small box and he pulled it onto his lap, stomach gurgling hollowly.
He opened it and grabbed a half frozen hot pocket, ripping the package with his teeth before biting off half of it in one go.
The sound that emerged from his throat as he chewed was half between pleasure and animal whine.
Nicole set the phone back in it's cradle, her brow knit as she drummed her fingers on the desk. That call had just been...weird. She frowned and rubbed her head, groaning at the start of the headache that was causing her to squint against the bright overhead lights. She looked down at her notebook, re-reading all of her entries. More and more calls had been coming in about weird going-ons in town. Purgatory was weird, it always had been, but this was a different type of weird.
There had been more reports of people in the woods, caught engaging in all manner of sexual proclivities that she didn't even want to think about. More fights had broken out, Alphas and even Betas brawling in the streets, some ruffians had trashed the billiard parlor, and someone had broken into the bakery, eating all of the chocolate donuts.
And now this...Wynonna being...well Wynonna...at Shorty's. Which wasn't unusual, except Clootie was with her, and by all accounts, Clootie and Wynonna weren't friends, barely even knew each other other than to snarl in each other's directions. Clootie might have been an Omega, but she wasn't known for her niceties.
And Doc and Dolls were still nowhere to be found.
She groaned again as she hauled herself out of her chair, wincing at the stiffness in joints. Her stomach gurgled, and she ground her teeth at the sharp pain that pierced her guts. She put both hands flat on her desk leaning over and breathing carefully through her nose. She could feel little beads of sweat dripping down her face, and she cursed quietly realizing she must be coming down with the flu. This was so not how she had planned to spend her day.
She straightened carefully, relieved when her stomach didn't rebel again. She opened her desk drawer, grumbling as she shuffled through the papers and pens and erasers, before her fingers closed around the smooth plastic bottle. She smiled in relief when she yanked it out of the drawer, slamming it shut with her hip. But she frowned when she realized the bottle was only half full. She twisted off of the top and swallowed the thick, pink liquid down, wiping her pink lips with the back of her hand. She tossed the bottle in the trash hoping it would do it's job quickly and hold off the nausea and stomach pain.
She grabbed her jacket, slinging it over her shoulder, while she double checked her gun belt. She hesitated for a moment before scooping up the key in her mug and making her way to the armory's closet. It took only a moment to open it, and she grabbed two extra clips and slipped them into the empty loops on her belt. She hesitated before shrugging and grabbing one of the tactical batons, flicking her wrist to release the spring action baton. She gave a few experimental swishes with her wrist, before clicking it closed and hooking it to her belt.
She was ready.
She drove slowly through town, her eyes peeled and constantly scanning the surrounding area. The main street was mostly empty, and she was surprised what with the number of calls she had received, she had been convinced more people would be about. Although many of the calls had been about people outside of town. The town felt empty, almost desolate, and Nicole found herself shivering for no apparent reason. She couldn't shake a feeling of impending doom, the shadows stretching between buildings looking darker and more ominous than they had any right to despite the fact it was in fact nighttime. And there was a pinprick sensation between her shoulderblades that would not fade no matter how much she rubbed her back into her seat, as if unseen eyes were watching her progress through the empty streets, waiting for the perfect chance to ambush her.
She slowed her car and parked in front of the small clapboard pharmacy, deciding she had better pick up more Pepto Bismol and a few other items to help combat the flu. She let the car idle for a few moments, before finally turning it off. She stepped out of the car, stomping her boots and straightening her hat, while she peered out from under it, casting her gaze up and down the street. She frowned, her skin itching and prickling. It felt like a hundred eyes were upon her, but she only saw a few people on the sidewalks.
She stepped up onto the sidewalk, looking around one more time before pushing the heavy door open. The little bell at the top tinkled, and she stepped inside only to stop short and gape in surprise. There must have been over a dozen people in the small shop, milling around pulling items off the shelves. She was surprised at how many of them appeared disheveled, and she wrinkled her nose at the influx of pheromones suffocating what air was in the small shop.
She pushed her way through the crowd, nodding her head at a few of the people, surprised again when most of them wouldn't look her in the eye. Some were muttering to themselves, as they pawed through the small bin that held small cardboard packages of allergy and sinus medications, probably about to expire.
She made her way to the second eye, only curse under her breath when she realized the aisle was empty of all pepto bismol and even antacids. She frowned and tugged off her hat, running her hand through her hair. This was unusual. She looked around for one of the techs, relieved when she saw a harried looking brunette Beta trying to reason with a young Alpha.
"Shona, hey." She stepped up quickly to Shona who was gesturing in the air at the Alpha and pointing to his small shopping basket.
"Look, Ryan, you can't take all of the gummy vitamins. They are children's vitamins for God's sake. You don't have kids!"
The Alpha bared his teeth at Shona who stepped back hurriedly, her nose wrinkling at the acrid stink of aggressive Alpha directed at her.
Nicole growled under her breath, stepping in between the Alpha and Beta. "What's the problem, here?"
Shona sighed and rubbed her eyes. It had been going on for the last three hours, people rushing in and demanding stomach aids and even suppressants. Most of them Alphas, a few Omegas. They'd bought out all the candy, antacids, pepto, immodium, the list when on. And normally she would be delighted at all the sales, but there had been something unnatural even frightening at the obsessive way her customers had pulled items off the shelves, hiding some of them in their coat pockets. The usual friendly banter had been missing, and the pheromones had spiked dramatically in the shop with each new arrival.
"Hi, Nicole."
Nicole nodded and reached into the younger alpha's basket and scooped up half of the bottles of children's vitamins. She growled in warning when he dared to open his mouth and protest, and she shooed him away after he hunched his shoulders and scampered off.
"Whole damn town," she muttered under her breath as she handed the bottles to Shona. "You have any pepto? My stomach is feeling a little funny. I think I'm getting the flu."
Shona shook her head and sighed as she started to restock the shelf, knowing it probably wouldn't do much good. She could still smell the young alpha hovering a couple aisles over. As soon as her back was turned, he'd come and grab them all again.
"Sorry. We are out of pretty much everything. Whole town is going crazy, I swear." She looked up at Nicole, brow wrinkled in frustration. "I mean this is Purgatory, weird shit is kind of the norm, but this…" she waved her hand around, gesturing to the packed pharmacy, the people pushing against each other, barely talking except for the occasional growls...and flirting. Flirting. There seemed to be a lot of eye contact and smirks and eyelashes batting between the alphas and omegas. She wrinkled her nose. And phereomones. Way too many pheromones..
She rubbed at her nose, trying to clear out the growing stink. She tapped her fingers against her baton. "Are you going to be ok here if I leave?"
"Yeah, sure. They won't get too feisty. They just seem to want to buy their stuff and get out."
Nicole sighed and nodded, digging her phone out of her pocket as her stomach lurched again, reminding her yet again that she hadn't managed to find any Pepto. She scrolled through her messages, a dopey smile stealing across her face as she looked at the cute heart gifs Waverly had sent her. But she frowned when she realized that neither Doc or Dolls had responded to her texts, they hadn't even read them, and Wynonna had read her texts but was ignoring them. Figures. She checked her voicemail. Nothing from Nedley either.
"Ok. Well, I'm gonna go do a patrol. Look if the Sheriff comes in or you see Dolls or even Doc, could you please tell them to contact me?"
"Sure thing, Nicole."
Nicole shoved her phone back into her pocket, pulling at her coat as she turned back and eyed the store one more time, making eye contact with some of the alphas, smirking when they avoided her stare. Good. Let them be scared.
She started toward the door, surprised when Shona suddenly grabbed her arm. She was even more surprised by the growl that burst from her chest, and she froze, her mouth dropping open in horror. "Shit. I'm sorry, Shona. I-I...I'm so sorry!"
Shona shook her head, patting Nicole on the arm. It only confirmed what she was starting to suspect. "It's ok, Nicole. Look…" she stepped closer to Nicole, glancing around swiftly to make sure no one was taking too much interest in their conversation. "I don't think this is the flu." She squeezed Nicole's arm, shaking her head slightly, sparing them both Nicole's inevitable interruption. "I called Jeremy at the hospital. He's a nurse in the ER. A lot of people have been coming in with some weird shit...at first they thought it was the flu...stomach pain and fevers. But then people came in with rashes and just...well acting weird."
Nicole nodded slowly, her stomach dropping. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry and itchy. So it wasn't the flu. It was something weird. Great. "Is it dangerous? A virus? Chemical attack?"
Shona shook her head. "No one is dead or in danger of dying...but it sure as hell isn't the flu. Jeremy said he'd keep me posted. If I hear anything. I'll pass it on to you." She sighed and shrugged helplessly. "It's just…"
"Weird."
"Weird."
Nicole chuckled and shook her head. Yup. Weird. She said goodbye to Shona and stepped outside. She looked up and down the street noticing the growing shadows in the streets. She tilted her head up and inhaled deeply. Snow. Snow was coming. She frowned again, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her headache loomed behind her eyes, and she knew it was going to be a long night. And she needed backup. And only one person was available. Just her damn luck.
Shorty's was way too packed for a midweek night, Wynonna decided.
In fact it was stuffed to the rafters with people drinking and talking loudly in the hopes to be heard over the din. None of it deterred her from making her way to the counter moments after setting boot inside the bar.
Some people simply moved aside because they associated her with trouble. And those who didn't move fast enough, or the few Alphas looking to start said trouble she simply snarled at until they cleared a path for her.
"I was wondering when you would make an appearance." Shorty greeted her, leaning over the counter so that she could hear, "the whole damn town seems to have decided Wednesday night is a good time as any to party."
"I mean," Wynonna snorted, "with all the inexplicable crap that happens around here can you really blame them if they want to soak their troubles in booze and drunken hookups?"
"I do if they try to use the pool table to do the nasty." Shorty grumbled, pouring her a glass of whiskey, "and two people with grey in their hair. Can you imagine?"
"Blergh. I'd rather not. Gross."
"Hey!" Shorty gave a look of fake hurt, "you're gonna age too at some point you know."
"Given my family's track record, probably not." Wynonna snatched the whole bottle of Jack from him before he could put it away, perusing the bar for a place to sit.
All tables were overcrowded except one.
"Who pissed in her cornflakes this morning?"
"Who, Ms. Stone? Been sulking in that corner for two hours and only had one margarita. Oh no Wynonna you don't mean…"
He looked positively horrified when she started towards the table and she shot him a grin over her shoulder.
"Ever heard of female solidarity? Watch and learn, Shorty. Watch and learn."
Wynonna swaggered up to Stone's table, setting down the whiskey bottle with a loud rattle. She had whisked two clean shot glasses from the counter, and proceeded to fill both to the brim, pushing one towards the blonde staring daggers in her direction.
"What do you want?" The woman spat, eyeing the liquor as if Wynonna had thrown a rattlesnake in her face.
"Why so sour C. C.? Lost a client?" Wynonna shot back with a smirk. She downed the shot of whiskey and poured herself a second one, bottle clinking against the glass. It was weird, she never got the shakes until she was well and truly sloshing with booze, but she felt buzzed, as if she had been drinking for the whole night.
But she hadn't - well, discounting the two beers she'd downed back at the Homestead.
"It's Ms. Stone to you, Earp." The blonde plucked at the glass fastidiously, then took a sip and set it down with a grimace. "Look at all these louts," the lawyer hissed, "a hundred years ago they would have lined up to have me! And now? Not one fucking glance."
"A hundred years?" Wynonna laughed - so prim and proper and yet already far more wasted than she was! - "I wouldn't say you look that old. Just a bit… seasoned."
Stone's brown eyes smoldered and she opened her mouth to retaliate, but before either of them could continue with the insults, someone placed a hand on Wynonna's shoulder, squeezing hard.
"Time to go, Wynonna:" Nicole's voice was stern, and the Alpha almost cringed before realizing the whole bar would see. She tried to shake the redhead off, but was dragged off her chair and onto her feet so fast her head spun.
"We need to go." Nicole snarled, a no-nonsense look plastered on her face, "now."
"But I was having fuuuun." Wynonna wanted to resist, but somehow her legs were moving towards the door - with no small help from Nicole's hand pushing at her back.
"I need you on patrol with me."
"Oh, oh! I know what happens when you and my sister go on patrol!" Wynonna managed to turn enough to poke the other Alpha squarely between her breasts, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. Nicole grunted, rolling her eyes, which just sent Wynonna into a fit of giggles.
"Wynonna, I'm serious. Weird shit is going down."
"Ugh fine! But I am driving!" Wynonna lunged, making a grab for the car keys that hung from the deputy's utility belt, but Nicole was faster, nimbly dodging her clumsy attempt.
Shit, she was really more drunk than she'd thought. Which was...weird. Really fucking weird. It was not small secret that the Earps could hold their liquor, all the way up until the moment they couldn't. And she hadn't reached that moment yet. Had she?
"Driving me insane, Earp? Because you're managing quite well."
"Ugh you're a buzzkill, Haught."
They stepped outside and Wynonna gasped, the cooler air cutting into her lungs. The street was deserted, reinforcing her impression that everyone had taken up residence at Shorty's for the night.
"Speaking of," Nicole walked to the car, boots crunching loudly over a suspicious amount of discarded granola bar wraps, "what were you thinking. Flirting with Ms. Stone. You know what people say of her? That she's a witch?"
"She's a lawyer. A snarky, insufferable, uppity, big city lawyer. Bobo Del Rey's lawyer, true, and I am sure her rates are actually a curse, but a witch? She is so bitter she wouldn't even manage to charm a frog."
But Nicole's jaw was stubbornly set, and Wynonna knew they'd argue about it all the way to wherever they were going.
Neither of them noticed the woman watching the police cruiser speed away into the night. Constance had exited from the bar's backdoor, taking advantage of the fact Shorty was too busy serving beer to the townspeople making a bee-line for the counter.
She had taken the whiskey bottle out of spite more than a real like for the stuff - she much rather preferred Dom Perignon bubbles to the burning fire of Jack Daniel's whiskey, but she took a long gulp anyway, trying to ignore the growing pain inside her lower belly.
It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. She never messed up a spell.
Bobo's laughing face emerged from the depths of her mind, and she smashed the liquor bottle against the wall, screaming out all of her rage.
It was just the atmosphere rubbing off on her she concluded after taking a few, calming breaths. After all so many Alphas in rut had a certain reek. A reek that should have been repugnant, a reek that should have made her want to claw off her own nose. Except there was something almost tantalizing about the reek, making her nose itch and twitch. And Wynonna...the Earp Alpha...should not have smelled so warm and sharp like cheddar cheese on homemade apple pie. She shook her head. Enough.
She'd tail the Heir a while, just to make sure she wouldn't interfere, then head back in town to enjoy the show.
And perhaps loot that nice pair of shoes she'd spotted in the mall.
A/N: Thoughts?