Author's note: Thank you for the reviews! If any of you have questions about my writing, please leave a review (provided you don't leave one as anonymous) and I will be more than happy to reply. And thanks again to Annette Curtis Klause for characters and settings I can work with. Also, this chapter has a lot more "thought voice" than Ms. Clause uses because it's just easier to get the immediate reaction.
Chapter 4:
"That's not important. Vivian, I need your help. It's Aiden."
Vivian felt a rock begin to plummet its way down to her stomach, threatening to make her sick. Why should I care? I hate you Kelly. What if he's hurt? It's all my fault. Little Katherine wrapped her pudgy fingers around her queen's wrist. "Come with me." She led Kelly and baby Katherine to her room upstairs; the only place she knew where they would be left alone.
"Is she yours?" Vivian looked at Katherine, with her green eyes and red curls.
"No, she's not mine." Why should you care? Why are you here? Where's Aiden? "Hold on a minute, I need to get this one to her mother." She carried Katherine back downstairs, wondering if it was safe to leave Kelly upstairs in her room, with her stuff, but as she left she noticed Kelly looking at the mural on the wall and clutching at her throat. That's right. Be afraid.
The mother was downstairs, sitting on a couch, wringing the ends of her sundress. She got up and took Katherine from Vivian as soon as she saw them.
"Oh, Vivian! I was so worried! Thank you for keeping my baby safe." …Keeping her safe. Yeah, that's what I do. That's what I have to do.
"Don't worry about it. Just be more careful next time." She ran back upstairs to her room, to find Kelly looking at the pictures in frames on the dresser.
"Who's this?" She handed Vivian a wooden frame with the picture Esmé had taken of them at a fair they had gone to in June. Vivian was being carried, piggy back style by Gabriel, and they were laughing, and standing in front of a merry-go-round. Any loup-garou could tell you their teeth were more pointed than usual as a result of their reckless abandon in that moment.
"That's my…" Husband? No, too informal. Mate? Even worse, she'd never understand. "…soul mate." Close enough. Vivian put the frame back down onto the dresser, aware of how much time was being wasted with small talk. "Why are you here Kelly? What's wrong with Aiden?" Kelly sat down on the chair next to the dresser.
"It's… I know about you Vivian." Vivian felt the rock in her stomach slide up, to grip at her lungs, crushing them together.
"I don't know what Aiden's told you…but I can bet it's not true."
"Yes, yes it is true. I know you're not human. That's all he could tell me." The rock released its grip only slightly. "I don't care what you are Vivian, I just want you and your… people to leave me and Aiden alone." Likewise, Kelly.
"What makes you think my people have anything to do with this? Where is he?" Kelly took a letter from her back pocket. Moon Goddess, I hate letters. Her hands were trembling as she passed it to Vivian. The writing was neat and even, like a woman's.
We know you're hiding a half-breed.
So we'll hide this one.
He knows too much.
A fair trade is in order, Vivian.
You'd better comply, for the sake of your pack.
Call at 9 on the 10th 8021151803
The rock in her lungs was now crushing against her heart. NO! This can't be happening. This is a joke. A sick joke. Kelly and Aiden are setting me up. Vivian looked up at Kelly who had black tracks running down from her eyes. She was crying. She was afraid. "Where did you get this from Kelly?" Kelly opened her mouth to speak, but a sob ripped its way out. Then she collapsed, and bawled like a child who's been terrified by a monster. Vivian knelt down beside Kelly, and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her back into focus. "Tell me where you got this from, Kelly!"
"It- was – tied to a brick. There was a brick in his room. It broke his window. His window. It broke it." Kelly went back to sobbing and Vivian read the note again, looking for something to make sense. We're hiding a half breed? 'Don't date if you can't mate'. It's not physically possible. I need to trade? Trade what? The 10th? That's … today.
Vivian's head started pulsing, and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. What are those numbers! If Kelly weren't in the room, Vivian would've howled in frustration. 8021151803. Wait! 802 is an area code. Here in Vermont. They're here? She looked down at Kelly, who had stopped crying, but was staring out into nothing. She's not going to be much help.
Vivian ran and leaped across the bed towards the phone. She dialed Gabriel's cell phone and crushed the receiver to her ear. She heard the dial tone once, twice, three times… Please pick up, please pick up. Pick up. On the fifth dial tone she was about ready to throw the phone against the wall, when she heard his low rumble.
"Hello?" She could hear his voice still weighed down with sleep.
"I really need to talk to you." At that, his voice changed and she just knew he was up and fully awake.
"Viv, tell me what's wrong." Vivian told him about Kelly, and Aiden, and the note, and the phone number. There was a long silence. "Babe, this isn't our fight. We don't have a half breed amongst us. I don't know about that Aiden kid, but he's not our problem."
"So we're not going to do anything? What about the pack?"
"The pack will be safe. Don't do anything. Vivian? Promise me you won't do anything. I need you to be safe." I can't do that Gabriel. I'm the leader now. I need to keep us safe. "Vivian? Please."
"Fine. The pack will be safe… I love you." Vivian hung up the phone, and took Kelly to one of the free rooms. "Kelly, stay here." She could just sense the defiance in Kelly's eyes. "Stay here if you don't want to die." Kelly's eyes grew wide, and Vivian was sorry she had to terrify her into submission, but it had to be done. Then she ran downstairs to the only people that could help her; the rest of the Five.
"Hey Ulf, I'm calling a meeting of the Five in my room, in two minutes." She ran down to the kitchen to make an excuse up to Esmé so she could get a few days off.
"Mom! I need to talk to you about something." Think Vivian, think! "I need to take three days off. I know, that's a lot, but I just need a break, I'm feeling weird lately." Please don't make me pull rank. Esmé thought for a while, still flipping the pages of her magazine, but finally agreed.
"I need to show you guys something." She handed the letter to the Five, and they passed it around amongst themselves. Their eyes grew wide, and their teeth grew sharper. "I need your help."
"What about Gabriel?" Vivian looked at Ulf, who had gotten very close to Gabriel in the past months.
"No. Gabriel can't know about this. He's already forbidden me from getting involved, but I just have to. If you don't want to help, leave this room right now. I won't think any less of you." None of them stood up, and the tightening in her chest loosened up a little bit more.
"What do you need us to do?" She looked at Willem's sweet round face, and smiled.
"I have a phone number there. I'm going to need to call. If they know my name, they probably know who I am. Gregory, you need to stay here, in case Gabriel comes back, I need you to have a good alibi for me. Ulf, you're staying with him, and I need this place to run as smooth as possible, so no one can tell I'm gone. Kelly's also here, I need you to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid here. Finn, you and Will have all of my classes. You need to keep up with my work for three days."
"What! Vivian, that's stupid. What about your backup? You're worried about schoolwork!"
"Yeah, I am. None of you are allowed to go with me. I don't want to put any of you in danger or anything."
"Vivian, I'm going with you. You can't stop me." She looked at Will's face, both defiant and trustworthy.
"Fine. I'm taking Will along. Finn, you need to keep up with our work for three days. None of you are to breathe a word of this to anyone. Or else." The threat was meaningless. They were her friends, they wouldn't betray her.
The rest of the day passed without incident. Vivian was restless and anxious at the same time. She knew every minute they wasted made it more dangerous for Aiden, but she couldn't take any risks. They called the number at exactly nine. A man's deep bass picked up the phone on the first dial tone.
"Good job Vivian. We knew you'd do the right thing. Listen carefully. Tomorrow you are to come alone to the reserve. Look for a line of trees with a red ribbon among the branches. They'll lead you to the next clue."
"What clue? Why can't you just meet me at some place and we can trade? What do I bring for the trade?"
"You're asking too many questions. If we just met, it wouldn't be so much fun would it? Bring the half-breed. Easy enough, right? A life for a life." They hung up the phone, and she wanted to scream and cry. No! No lives! I won't have anyone die.
That night, Vivian went out and bought some over the counter sleep aids. She took one, then another, and fell into darkness. That was the first time in a long time that she had no dreams.
Willem rubbed his arms, letting out small white puffs of breath. The air was getting colder, but the sun was way up in the sky. It seemed strange that whoever it was didn't wait to be under the cover of night. Vivian came back in fifteen minutes with a note tied to a rock and tears in her eyes. While Willem read, she howled in anger.
You've made the game more interesting.
Surely you must know by now who the half-breed is.
Bring her tonight to this address. We'll trade.
Attached was a note, with an address scribbled in flowing cursive. "Are you going to bring her Vivey?"
"No, of course I'm not. I don't even know who she is. And besides, the fact that you're involved is already one person too many. Come on, let's go." On the drive back, Willem tried to reason with her, and calm her nerves. But she was a different Vivian now than she was when they were children. She was the leader.
Vivian sat in her room, waiting for night to fall. No one knew she was still at home, in the inn. They all thought she was out for three days. Earlier she had made Gregory slip some of the sleep aids into Kelly's food, just in case. The alpha-female paced her room, trying to clear her head for whatever was coming up. She knew the address; it was an old lodge just under twenty minutes from here. The fact that they were so close gave her the chills. She changed into a practical outfit; jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, and boots. She tied her hair up and tucked her pendant safely inside her shirt. This will do, if I remain human.
She reread the notes over and over again, trying to imagine who must've written them. The writing was small and neat, but the person on the phone was a male. Moon goddess, please let there be only one. No accomplices. The time on the clock read 2:45pm. Vivian growled and took a sleep aid. She woke up at 6:03pm. The moon was coming out soon. She treaded back downstairs as quietly as possible, to avoid being seen. Willem was already waiting in the black truck outside.
"Vivian! I wanted to talk to you. It's very important." Vivian shot a glance at the voice. It was the mother from earlier, and she was carrying Katherine in her arms. The baby was asleep.
"Not now. I have to go. Sorry."
"But-" Vivian didn't wait for the rest of the sentence; she just hopped into the truck and drove off.
They walked into the lodge in silence. Will had his walky-talky with him, as did she. If anything went wrong, she would press the red button, and all of the Five would know about it. The place was so typical, it made her gag. There was minimal lighting, and lots of shadows. The bare furniture was covered in white cloth for the dust, and the windows were mostly all closed. In the movies, it looked a lot cleaner and smelled a lot better than it did here. Everywhere reeked of urine and alcohol. Vivian had barely stepped in through the front door when a large blonde man with square shoulders and the build of a lumberjack grabbed her by the arm and pressed his gritty hand against her mouth. Don't panic. Don't panic. This always happens in the movies. He made her stumble her away across to the living room. Then he threw her onto the sofa. She resisted the urge to press the button. If she didn't panic, she would be safe. Just hear what they have to say first.
"Where's the girl? We need fair trade."
"How-" her voice broke, and the man smiled wide showing pearly white teeth,
"-how do I know you've kept your end of the deal? Where is he? I need to see him or the deal is off." He growled low, and she knew he was loup-garou. Then he walked out of the hall, and she could hear his steps upstairs. He hasn't called for anyone, he must be alone then. She pressed the little button on the walky-talky once. The code for, "everything is okay". The man dragged Aiden downstairs. His legs and arms were bound, and his eyes were blindfolded with a dirty rag. The man threw Aiden down on the floor, causing him to release a small whimper.
"There, you see him. Where's the girl?"
"I need to speak to this one. He's broken my heart. I want to know if he's worth saving." The man seemed most amused. To him, it was just a just a game, and the plot had just thickened.
"Fine. Make it quick. You have five minutes. Exactly." He actually left the room and closed the door. Vivian would've made a quick getaway out the window, but she remembered two things. Firstly, they were blocks away from anywhere, and secondly, this was a madman. If they escaped, they would've still been hunted down, and maybe the pack would've been hunted as well. So she was going to play the game by his rules.
She walked over to Aiden, and lifted the blindfold off. His eyes did nothing to her, because her heart finally belonged to another. "Vivian. Let's go! Let's get out of here. Come on!"
"No Aiden. We can't."
"Did you mean what you said? That I'm not worth saving?" His voice sounded small, and scared. He was terrified of them, even now he was looking at her with panic, and she was the only one who could save him.
"I want to save as many lives as possible tonight. Aiden, I need you to do two things for me. Don't be afraid of me, ever. I'm the only one who can help you. And do exactly as I say." Vivian was formulating a getaway plan in her head, when the little red light bulb on the walky-talky started flashing. Something has just gone terribly wrong. The man walked back in, and tied Aiden's blindfold back on.
"So? Do we have a trade?"
"Yes." She saw Aiden wince, but he knew better. "You'll forgive me; I have left my end of the deal back in the getaway car outside. I needed to be sure. If I don't come back, you can kill him. I won't care less. Fair is fair, right?" She tried as hard as she could not to sprint back towards the truck, but walk slowly and evenly. She saw Willem's face, as he held onto the steering wheel and looked straight at her. He was terrified.
"What's wrong?" she mouthed at him, but the answer was clear soon enough. There was a little green Honda Civic on the road, and baby Katherine popped her head up from the passenger's seat of the truck. No! Now she was running, and she opened the truck door, and scooted in beside the three. "Why are you here! WHY are you here!"
Willem's shaky voice gave her an answer she wished she didn't have to hear, "Vivian, you're looking at the half-breed."
Vivian looked at the red headed mother in disbelief. She didn't look anything like a half-breed was supposed to look like. Vivian was just about to tell them to get back in the Honda and hide, when the man came running out of the house, in half form, and towards the truck. He opened the door, and pulled out a gun. Katherine didn't scream, or cry. She didn't know what was going on as the four were led into the abandoned lodge. The red light on her walky-talky was on. The rest of the Five would be here soon enough.
The mother was smart enough to know that she had to hold on to her child for dear life, as she watched Willem be bound and tied. He didn't put up a fight. The guy was unstable, and armed. Vivian risked everything by trying to reason with him. "Do we need to trade? She's not even a child anymore. She knows better. She can run away, and none of us will ever have to deal with her again." The blonde man smirked and led them all downstairs… to the basement. If they weren't in danger, Vivian would've laughed at the horrid clichés.
He turned on the single bare light bulb on the ceiling and tied Willem and Aiden together against the wall. "Please. There's no need for any of this, really. She's old now. No one knew she even existed, or that it was possible."
"Shut up!" he barked. "You are a fool to think that woman is the half breed." Then who? Oh dear goddess. Katherine looked up at the scary man who was yelling. He walked over to her and ripped her apart from her mother's arms. Vivian ran to the woman's side to stop her from doing anything stupid. And the room was filled with the sobs of a child, and Vivian's heart and mind raced for some logic. "You, untie the one over there." The mother walked over to Aiden and began undoing his ropes. "A fair trade."
"No! You can't! I won't let you."
He cackled. "And you think you can stop me? This is a legacy we're talking about girl. We can't let this monster live. It's not the way."
"I don't care. I'm the leader now. I make my own way."
"What you are is an annoying bitch. Shut up before I do off with you too." A great banging was heard upstairs as the house was being searched. The man laughed. This was getting still more exciting, and he wished the game would never end. "Your backup has arrived, whereas I sadly have none. Oh wait, yes I do." He pulled out a gun and cocked it.
Finn, Gregory, Ulf, and Gabriel descended down the stairs at once. "Stop!" she yelled. "Don't come any closer. I'm ordering it." They paused at the second step from the floor. The man cackled again, but he was agitated now, his breathing came rapidly, and the scent oozed from his pores to mingle with all the other ones in the room. Gabriel looked at Vivian, the woman, Willem, the untied Aiden, and the blond holding his hand out to the child, who was sitting between all of them crying her eyes out. He knew the whole story long before anyone could explain. The tension in the room was so thick everyone seemed to be choking from it.
Finally, it was a shaky woman's voice that broke the silence. "Katherine, come here to mommy. Come here right now." The child stood on its legs, wobbling around a bit as it cried.
"You! Shut up! Just shut up! That disgusting half-breed! That filthy thing! It needs to die!" The man raised his arm, and Vivian could see the gun. It was the kind that shot tranquilizer bullets. But tranquilizer doesn't glow blue like that.
She could see the bullet's point of impact, way before she heard the shot that sent it off, and she leapt, transforming into a loup-garou in midair. The child was knocked over onto its side by a large wolf-like creature, as it took the bullet on its right flank, forcing it to change back into a human and clutch at her side.
There was a lot of angry howling in the damp basement, followed by a crunch of bones, and a thud. Then a boy's voice was screaming at a wounded female, who was bleeding profusely, "Vivian? Say something! It's me, Aiden! Vivian!" Vivian threw her head back and uttered a loud guttural scream that was neither wolfen nor human, as she collapsed down onto the floor.
"Get away from her, boy!" she heard another thud, and her mind snapped. The beast inside her wanted to fight back. It wanted blood. She turned and bit into the flesh nearest her as hard as she could, letting the rich warm blood pool in her mouth as she swallowed. Whoever the victim was wasn't making a sound, so she bit down harder, until she could feel a crunch of bone. Finally it screamed, but it also fought back, stabbing Vivian on her right shoulder with something sharp. And then her world went black.