Werewolves of London

Little ol' lady got mutilated late last night; werewolves of London again…

Reid assured himself that he was still doing his job. He was combing the streets of Ipswich looking for a big, hairy monster. And if his street combing happened to take him directly to Casey and Jamie's house, then it was totally coincidence.

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer except for a frantic yipping from beyond the door.

Reid swallowed his disappointment and pasted a sneer on his face. He didn't give a crap whether or not Casey was home. He had a line of chicks waiting for him and he could have his pick. They all practically worshiped him.

He sighed. That was probably the problem. God help him, he was bored with easy chicks.

He tucked his hands into his pockets and headed back to his car but stopped when he heard what sounded like a low moan. He cocked his head to the side and listened. There it was again!

Reid rounded the corner of the house and listened. The sound was coming from the storm cellar. A thick rusted chain encircled the handles and a large padlock secured it.

"Hello?" Reid asked softly.

There was another moan and a scuffling from inside the cellar. Reid jerked on the padlock but the chain held secure. Frowning in concentration, Reid called on his power to move the lock. Since he was still unused to the concentration of magic, the entire chain melted and hot metal ran down the front of the cellar doors.

"Hope that wasn't important," he muttered. He flipped the latch and opened one door tentatively. "Hello?" he called again.

"Reid?"

"Casey? Jesus Christ, what are you doing down here? Did Jamie lock you in here?"

He rushed down the steps and gripped her elbows to hold her up as her knees buckled and she moaned in pain.

"Leave," she bit out through the pain. "Go away, Reid."

"You need a hospital," he said, running a hand over her feverish forehead. He pulled his cell out and dialed Caleb's number as he ushered her to the steps.

"Hey Caleb—shit!" Reid closed his phone when Casey shoved away from him.

"Get away from me!" Casey shouted. She collapsed onto the floor on her knees and panted.

"Case," he said quietly, kneeling beside her. "What is it?"

She looked up at him then, her dark hair curtaining her face, but through it Reid could see her eyes. Her pupils had elongated and the irises were a burning gold, seeming to glow in the low light of the storm cellar.

Reid jumped away with a curse. "It's you. Jesus, you're a werewolf," he said.

"Reid, go," Casey wailed, holding her stomach. She fell onto her side and Reid watched, transfixed, as her skin began to ripple.

Reid ran up the stairs and used his power to seal the doors. Then he fell against the little blue fence and tried to catch his breath as he came to terms with the fact that the girl he might actually have had feelings for was a murdering monster.

-

-

Reid's cell phone rang and he answered it without enthusiasm. "Hey Caleb."

"Reid, man, where are you. We're supposed to be at Nicky's, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way."

When he got to the hangout, he spotted Tyler's SUV and Sam's VW. He had little doubt that Caleb's mustang was around somewhere, and Pogue had probably ridden with Sam since she detested his motorcycle.

He entered the pub and was greeted by the familiar (and somewhat comforting) smell of cigarette smoke and burgers. He spotted the others at a table in the corner, and a cold fist clenched in his stomach as he spotted Jamie sitting next to Tyler.

His ice blue eyes locked on hers and he saw hers widen a fraction. No doubt her dreamwalking abilities made her sensitive to certain things, and there was no way that his distress wasn't pouring off of him in waves. As he made his way through the throng of people between him and the table, he saw her whisper something to Tyler and head toward the bathrooms. Reid doubted if they would see her again that night, but she'd have to wait until one of them opened the cellar door to get to Casey.

"What's with you?" Sam asked with a frown, jerking Reid's blank gaze away from the direction Jamie had disappeared.

"Casey's a werewolf," he said without preamble. He scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"What?" Pogue asked.

"I took care of it," Reid said. "She can't get out unless we let her out."

Everyone was silent. One shocked expression met another as they looked at each other.

"Where is she?" Tyler asked.

"I said it's under control," Reid said. "Your little dreamwalker has some explaining to do," he said.

"Whoa," Sam said as she looked at Tyler. "Jamie's a dreamwalker?"

"I wasn't completely sure," Tyler said. "But I think so, yeah. She's benevolent though."

"Her roommate is a werewolf," Pogue said. "She can't be completely benevolent if she knew what Casey was capable of."

Reid clenched his jaw. "We don't know that it was her," he defended. "I hung out with her. She wouldn't kill anybody. There's another werewolf around somewhere."

That was ridiculous and he knew it. There wasn't an overabundance of werewolves in Ipswich.

Pogue's expression told him that he thought the same thing, only it added a 'dumbass' to it.

"Where is she, Reid?" Caleb asked.

"We can't talk to her now anyway," Reid said. "She's kind of phased out. I'll take you tomorrow."

"They could be gone tomorrow," Pogue said roughly but Reid shook his head.

"She's locked down. There's no way she could get out."

"You used your Power to lock her in somewhere?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Not much, but yeah. I think Jamie ditched out the back," Reid said, looking toward the restrooms. "Not that it matters. She won't leave without Casey."

"I'll go check," Sam said.

"I'm getting her out of here," Pogue said quietly as soon as Sam was out of earshot.

"What are you talking about?" Caleb demanded.

"I'm tired of her being in danger because of us." He tossed his hair from his eyes and fidgeted with the straw in his drink. "I'm taking Sam and leaving Ipswich."

Tyler laughed. "Where do you think you're going to go?" he asked. "Everything you know is here. And Sam is just as likely to tell you to shove it as go with you, especially if you tell her it's because of us."

"I can't keep putting her in danger," Pogue said savagely.

"She knew what she was getting into when she started," Reid said, secretly panicking at the thought of one of them leaving. They were a unit.

Pogue looked at Caleb. "I just thought I'd go ahead and give you the heads up," he said as Sam rounded the corner.

"Nope," she said, plopping in her chair. "Jamie's nowhere to be seen." She gave Tyler an apologetic look.

"Ok, here's what we'll do," Caleb said. "Tonight, Tyler, if Jamie comes to you, tell her that you know what she does and get information out of her. Reid, you're sure Casey can't get out of where you left her?"

"I'm sure," Reid said.

Caleb nodded. "First thing tomorrow we meet at Sam's. Reid will take us to Casey and we'll deal with that. Then we'll discuss other…things," he said with a meaningful look at Pogue.