Chapter Eleven, In Which There Is Emotional Insight

AN: I wasn't gonna post this today, but… well, obviously that whole plan pretty much fell through. This is for all of you, but especially for Greendoggie, who pointed out that I wasn't really saying much about Reid's feelings in general. So hopefully this helps clear things up!

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Sarah answered the phone expecting Pogue or Reid, or even Tyler, but it was an unfamiliar voice that spoke into her ear.

"Hello, is Caleb there? Caleb, uh, Danvers?" Sarah frowned. The man was speaking quickly, the words almost stumbling over themselves.

"Yeah, just a sec," she said, raising her arm and waving to her boyfriend. Caleb was perusing the jazz section of the music store they were in, having given his jacket to her earlier. The phone had been in the jacket pocket, and it had startled her when it rang. Caleb jogged over and, with a quick smile for the blond girl, took the cell.

"Hello?"

"It's Daniel Teague, Kat's father. Have you seen her at all today? I know it's kind of late, and I'm sorry, but-"

"No, no, it's fine. It's only 8:20. I haven't seen her, no," he replied, unconsciously gripping the phone just a little tighter.

"It's just, she hasn't been home at all, and there's no note. Her window was open when I checked her room, and, um, the bed was made. Sorry. I must sound crazy, but Kat, she never makes her bed. I just… I was hoping you knew something, you or some of those other people she hangs out with. Sarah? There was another girl, too- Kate, was it? Do they know anything?"

"No, none of us have seen her. My friend Tyler gave her a ride home last night, and he said she went into the house, so…"

"Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe… I'm sorry, Caleb, I don't mean to unload my worries on you."

"No, Mr. Teague, it's okay. I understand. We'll look around town, if you want. The places we took Kat, I mean. See if she's there."

"Would you? That's great. Thanks. Call if you find anything, okay?"

"Sure. And… if she's not home by tomorrow…"

"Twenty-four hours is the rule. I know." The man gave a short, cleansing sigh and Caleb could practically see him shaking his head. "Thanks again. You're a good kid, Caleb."

"Thank you, sir. I'll tell the others, and we'll start looking." When he hung up, Caleb looked at Sarah. His dark eyes were troubled. "Kat's missing," he said quietly. Sarah's chin leveled and her eyes hardened with determination.

"Not for long."

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"Yo, it's Reid, I'm busy with some Chinese triplets here, so… if you don't mind… BEEP." Caleb swore into the phone.

"Reid, you really need to change your message. And come on, pick up the phone!" A sigh. "Look, man, Kat's disappeared. We're meeting at the bluffs. Be there." The message cut off, leaving no trace of the call except a silently blinking red light on the side of Reid's black Samsung phone.

"I think your phone just rang," the brunette with the pierced tongue said, glancing at him over the top of her beer.

"What?" She leaned forward across the table, flashing a smile at the petite blond woman who was slipping a hand up the back of her shirt, and spoke louder over the music.

"I said, I think your phone just rang! It's that black one on the table, right?" Reid glanced at the phone, quickly scanning the front panel: 'ONE MISSED CALL: CALEB'. He rolled his eyes.

"Boy can't even let me have a night out on my own," he muttered in disgust. "It's okay, guys, just my tightwad friend." The blond laughed as the brunette settled back against the booth.

"Good thing you have us to hang out with, Reid. Wouldn't want you growing a stick up your ass, too," she said. The red-haired young man slouching in the corner of the booth nodded.

"Yeah, man," he agreed. "I mean, those other three guys you're always with, they're pretty cool. But still, sometimes a man just needs his own space, you know?" Reid grinned and slapped the table.

"Come on, ladies," he called, eyes on the blond and the brunette sitting across from him, who were now kissing, the girl with the pierced tongue stroking the blond's hair. "Either get a room or make this a show worth watching!"

"Shut up, Reid," the blond said amiably, breaking away from her girlfriend with a smile. "Stace and I aren't your personal porno, you know." Reid spread his hands innocently.

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying," he sighed. "Hey, Rube, you wanna play some pool?" The redheaded boy straightened a bit.

"Only if I get Amelie on my side," he said, reaching out and snagging the blond's sleeve. Reid groaned.

"I was talking some one-on-one, man! Don't drag Am into this!" Stace chuckled, wrapping an arm around Amelie's waist.

"You're just scared 'cause you know she's better than you." Before he could retort, the black phone started buzzing again. Reid heaved an irritated sigh.

"Maybe you should answer it," Rube suggested, leaning his elbows on the table. "Could be important."

"Yeah, I bet," Reid grunted. "Like, 'Make sure to get home before midnight', and 'Don't get smashed'. Thinks he's my mother, I swear to God." The phone buzzed insistently. Stace pursed her lips before reaching out and grabbing it, flipping it open and pressing it to her ear.

"Hello, Reid Garwin's answering service," she said smoothly, holding a hand over Amelie's mouth to stifle the giggles. Across the table, Reid was grinning. "I'm sorry; he's in a very important meeting with Angelina Jolie and Carmen Electra. May I take a- what?" She listened in silence for a moment, her hand falling away from Amelie's lips. The other girl's smothered laughter died down as her girlfriend's forehead furrowed with distress. Slowly, Stace hung up the phone before setting it back down on the table. Looking at Reid, she cocked her head.

"What? What is it?" Rube was half-grinning, as if he thought this was still part of the joke.

"That was Caleb," Stace said. "He said to tell you that they're meeting at the bluffs in fifteen minutes because Kat has been missing since last night." There was an instant of silence. Stace looked serious. Amelie looked concerned. Rube looked confused. Reid's grin was still on his face, as if he'd forgotten how to take it off. Slowly, it slipped and jerked away. Reid reached out and took the phone from the table, putting it carefully into his pocket. He stood.

"Who's Kat," Rube asked, quieter now, eyes locked on the blond boy's strange expression: a near-unrecognizable mix of surprise, denial and something the redhead could not place.

"Missing, apparently," Reid answered, sliding out of the booth. The strange look slid off his face, and he gave a quirky little smile. "Again. The girl runs away all the time. I think she does it for attention." He heaved a sigh. "Well, better go track her down. Sorry, guys. I'll catch you later." With that, he headed for the door of the club, walking calmly, hands in his pockets. Once he was gone, Amelie looked around at the two remaining people in the booth.

"Did anyone else find that weird?" Stace nodded and took the blond's hand, lacing their fingers together.

"The boy on the phone," she said softly. "Caleb. He sounded… like it was serious. Way more serious than a girl who runs away all the time for attention." Rube laughed, a little uncomfortably, but not liking the solemnity that was settling over the two girls.

"Ah, come on. This is Reid, my friends! Like he'd ever get himself into a situation any more serious than how to evade the evil ex!"

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Somehow, I hadn't thought about it like this. You know, like, 'she's gone'. Actually, I hadn't really thought about it at all. I'd just kind of assumed that what Caleb had said was true: that Kat wouldn't get attacked again soon. And when I got that crawling feeling in my stomach, I'd passed it over like it was nothing. Just worrying about my stupid goddamn shirt, right?

Unbelievable, I know… but I just hadn't really considered the thought that something like this might actually happen. How dumb is that? How fucking blind? I slammed my fist against the steering wheel of my mother's car, which I'd cheerfully stolen earlier that afternoon, and shot my middle finger at a truck driver who honked when I sped past him.

Now that it had happened, I was stuck in a weird kind of limbo. Part of me was basically shell-shocked: didn't know what to think, what to do, what to fee- no. No, there were no feelings involved here. None…

Then, there was the other part of me. That part was screaming, raging, furious. I was horrified at the way the darker, baser half of my brain was telling me to hunt down whoever had taken Kat, and destroy them. I was shocked at the anger in that inner voice, and at the strength. Most of all, though, I was freaked at the foreign, primal instinct that was whispering low in my gut, each syllable crawling up the knobs of my spine: take back what's yours.

What. The. Hell? Reid Garwin does not go all caveman over girls. Reid Garwin does not feel the urge to kill in order to win back a girl. Reid Garwin does not…

My inner Caleb was saying something, and I did not like it. My inner Caleb, righteous dweeb that he is, was saying something extremely, stupidly, offensively ridiculous.

Because, most of all, for the safety of himself and others, because it is the smart, easy thing to do, Reid Garwin does not fall in love.

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I was hungry. Way hungry. Haven't-eaten-in-over-a-day hungry. I hadn't even had lunch the day before the night I was kidnapped, and now it was the next evening and Mary Harcortte had not given me a single thing to eat. I guess it didn't really matter to her whether I starved or not, as long as I bled. Cynical? Who, me?

And believe me, I was starving. The Change… it takes something out of you. Energy. A lot of energy. Enough energy to completely rearrange your entire genetic code, more or less, and to do it more than once. While you're Changing, there's a certain adrenaline that keeps you going… but after, you need a lot of sleep, and a lot of food.

Neither of which I'd had.

Because frankly, I don't count drugged oblivion as sleep, and I'm pretty damn sure I was drugged.

So now, I was pacing my tiny prison, forcing myself not to sit down. Not to appear weak. But God, I was getting weak. Finally, near tears but unwilling to let them fall, I sat back down on my cushion and glared, as balefully as I could, at the video camera in the corner of the room. She goes to all this trouble, and then doesn't even bother to stay in the same room as me? Maybe it was guilt. Somehow, I doubted it.

Closing my eyes, I rested my forehead on my knees.

"Goddamn motherfucking sonofabitch," I muttered, hearing my stomach growl. This sucked so bad it wasn't even funny. Not that it had ever been funny.

I focused on the hunger, and the anger, in order not to succumb to the fear. Because oh, yes… there was fear. I was trapped. That was the first thing. I'm a wolf at heart, a wild animal, and we do not deal well with captivity. It was taking a big chunk of my willpower and self-control to keep from giving in to claustrophobia. Then, there was the part where I had one more day to live.

If, that was, Ms. Mary Harcortte had her way…and damned if I was gonna let that happen without a fight.

Besides… they would come for me. They had to. They had to know I was missing, and who had taken me. They had the whole magic thing going for them, right? They'd be able to figure it out.

I sniffed, and got a noseful of Reidsmell: a pepperbasilspice scent tinged with that metallicy magical edge.

He would come for me.

Please, God, let him come… because as much as it hurts to admit this, I can't do this alone.