As soon as the lights blacked out, she knew that was her sign. Tearing the I.V. tubing, but leaving the needle in her hand, she leaped out of bed. As she opened the second floor window, she glanced over to see who was outside the glass.
Two middle-aged guys in cheap suits with receding hairlines. Cops.
One man in a lab coat, with a slightly haggard look to him. Doctor.
Three guys her age, all tall, but with very different looks. Huh. Who're they? Cute though.
One young guy wearing a black beanie, staring straight at her. Hot. Good thing he can't see in the dark.
Before the lights flickered back on, she was already on the ground running.
She made it back to her crappy motel room without anyone seeing her in all her hospital-gown-clad glory. Bare ass and all.
Just to be safe, she entered through the bathroom window, wincing in pain as her bruised ribs went over the frame. Collapsing ungracefully on the floor, she waited for the room to stop spinning.
Before she had a chance to stand up, someone opened the bathroom door, smashing it against her already sore head. "Fuck!"
An upside-down face came into view. Pale but tanned skin, strong, clean shaven jaw, long, dark lashes surrounding icy-grey eyes in a chiselled face. Jackass.
"You look like shit Tal. You know, you should probably go to a hospital or something," her upside-down headed attacker remarked casually.
"Fuck you. It's your fault I was there in the first place. Where were you Will? What happened?" she answered, pulling herself up from the floor.
"I got there as he was beating on you, took off after him, chased him for a few blocks 'till I lost his scent, then went back. When I got there, four guys were in the alley with you, and an ambulance pulled up. We found out where they were holding you, Jess cut the power and the cameras, while I stole the blood and samples before they could get sent out. You 'kay?" he asked, actually sounding mildly concerned this time.
"Fine. I just need to shift. What do you mean, you lost him?" she asked, gripping the sink for support and glaring at him.
"We'll talk about it after you're all healed up, okay? Jess found out some interesting things too. Hurry up, I picked up some KFC on the way back."
"Chicken?" her face suddenly smiling. Bad idea. Shit, that hurts! she thought, The bruises must be pretty bad.
"Yeah sis, chicken. I figured you'd be hungry after your little adventure. Now hurry up, we're hungry too," he said, throwing some clothes at her and smirking as he left, closing the bathroom door behind him.
She turned and looked into the mirror. Damn. Her face was one big bruise. Her cheek and lip were split and her left eye was almost completely swollen shut. She was unrecognisable.
Turning away, she removed the hospital gown and I.V. needle, and let the change flow over her. Bones shifted and stretched, fur grew and her spine lengthened, eventually thwapping back and forth as a tail. She only stayed in her Fur for a moment, then shifted back, standing naked in the bathroom.
The bruises on her body were gone, as were the ones on her face. The split on her cheek was gone, and her lip was almost completely healed. Her head still hurt, but nowhere near as much as before, and the aching in her body was all but gone. The face looking back from the mirror now resembled a feminine version of Will's, with finer bones, fuller lips, longer lashes and longer hair. Icky matted hair. I need a shower.
Quickly rinsing and drying off, she dressed in the pyjamas given to her earlier and stepped into the room, where she was attacked by a short redheaded woman.
"Are you okay? I was so worried! Are you all right? Sit down. Are you dizzy? Do you need to sleep?"
"I fine Jess, see – all better! Just calm down, and tell me where the chicken is. Also what happened and who were the guys at the hospital?" she added, moving over toward the red and white tubs of chicken, grabbing a drumstick, and tearing the flesh off ravenously.
Jess laughed. "Well I guess you found the chicken. One doctor, two detectives. Standard records. Don't know much. The four guys however…"
"What?" she asked around a mouthful of Finger Lickin' Good.
"Caleb Danvers, Pogue Parry, eighteen. Reid Garwin, Tyler Simms, seventeen. All seniors at Spencer Academy. Known collectively as 'The Sons of Ipswich'. All descended from four of the original founders of the Ipswich colony. All loaded. All families have very long and interesting histories including war-time miracles, head-hunters and a life-time ban from Las Vegas." Jess said, from her position behind her high-powered laptop.
"Cool," Will said, from his position sprawled on one of the beds, his arm curled possessively around his own tub of chicken.
"Yeah, yeah. But you look back far enough in any family, and you're gonna find some weird shit. Is there anything recent?" Tal replied, joining Jess on the bed to look at the info she'd pulled up. God only knows how she finds all this shit.
"Yeah, something very interesting. Last fall, a student was found dead in his car near the Dells, a local party spot. The student ID of a newly transferred student, one Chase Collins, was found in the car, but he was never considered a suspect. A couple weeks later, Pogue Parry's long-time girl friend, - uhh…Kate Tunney - gets taken to hospital for anaphylactic shock. Spider bites. Parry crashes his motorbike rushing to the hospital and ends up a patient there himself."
"I swear, that hospital is evil," Tal said, shuddering dramatically.
"Yeah, well that's not all. The next night, Sarah Wenham, another recent transfer and new girlfriend of Caleb Danvers, is abducted by Chase Collins in order to lure Danvers to meet at the Putnam barn. The barn is where John Putnam was tortured during the witch trials, by the way. Anyway, supposedly Collins and Danvers get into a fight, knock over a lantern and the place goes up in flames. Danvers and the girl get out, but Collins in trapped inside. But get this: they never found any remains." Jess said, looking up in excitement.
"Even if he burned to a crisp, there should still be some bones left over," Will said, frowning.
"Well, there wasn't. I ran a check on Chase Collins. He was a wealthy orphan, apparently his adoptive parents died in a car crash the day he turned eighteen. The day Collins supposedly died in the fire was Danvers birthday. His eighteenth." Jess obviously new more, but was waiting for them to ask. She always does like drama.
"What did you get on Collins' birth family?" Tal asked, humouring her friend.
"I'm glad you asked," Jess said, grinning. "His original last name was Goodwin-Pope,"
"Fuck." Tal said, the pieces fitting together. "Spider bites…"
"Yeah," Jess agreed.
"What?" Will asked, still a step behind the girls. "What?!"
"Jeez, read a book sometime. Agnes Goodwin-Pope is one on the people that laid charges during the witch trails." Tal answered, rolling her eyes.
"Spider bites…" he murmured, understanding.
"Yeah. Witchcraft. From what you said though, it seems as though Collins is the bad guy in all this," Tal looked at Jess.
"Yes, but I can't be sure. But it's got to be linked. Reid Garwin turns eighteen in a month. It can't be a coincidence," Jess reasoned.
"A month. The shifter we talked to back in New York said that whatever was happening here would happen in a month. You're right. I felt something weird when I was attacked, kinda like a flux in energies. It didn't feel like normal casting though. Whatever these guys are, they're not your run-of-the-mill witches. What do we do?" Tal asked her brother.
"Simple. You go undercover at Spencer, make friends, get info. We'll work the background," he said, giving his little sister a shit-eating grin.
"What! Undercover at some snobby prep-school? Look at me! I'll stick out like a sore thumb! I'll get found out in a minute! Found out or kicked out!" There is no fuckin' way I'm going back to school.
"I won't pass for a high school student. Jess starts stuttering and blushing when she gets near people she hasn't known for five years. Even with all that…" he said, gesturing to her tattooed arms, and multiple piercings, "…stuff, you're still the best choice. You'll just have to cover up and take out some of the earrings. And do something about the tongue stud, that's a dead give away. And pretend to be normal. And don't swear. Act like Jess. Be nice. You do know how to play nice, don't you?" he said ducking as she threw a chicken bone at him.
"I'll take that as a no then, shall I? You want me to tell the boss you're not being a good little lackey?"
"Ha, ha. Fine. But you'll pay, oh yes you'll pay!" Tal threatened, grinning manically before collapsing with laughter.
"Wait, won't they recognise you?" Jess asked frowning. Huh? Oh yeah, she didn't see my punch-bag - I mean face – before I healed.
"I don't think that will be a problem, Jess," replied Will. "Although she will have to cut her hair,"
"WHAT!?"