CHAPTER 16

Shannon stepped out of the shower, staring disgustedly at the head she held. She was freshly washed… so was the head. Shivering she covered it with a towel before getting dressed.

"Hurry up." Glenn ordered, rapping on the door.

"I'm coming." Shannon grabbed Adam's hair and stepped out, holding it up for him to see. "Pass inspection?"

"It'll do, ditch the head, I want to go get something to eat."

Shannon stared at him incredulously for a moment before stalking out to the main room and stuffing the head into Glenn's duffel bag. She turned to find him leaning in the hallway.

"You're a smartass aren't you girl?"

***

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" Jeff asked when he and Isis were cleaned and dressed in fresh clothes.

Jaden and Mark exchanged glances.

"What?" Isis looked back and forth between them.

"I was thinking about what you said," Mark began, motioning for her to sit besides him on the couch. "Maybe we should just call it quits and head to the countryside."

Isis and Jeff both groaned at the mention of 'countryside.'

"You guys weren't at the show last night," Jaden said softly. "Things are really getting out of control."

"What happened?" Isis asked softly, watching curiously as Jaden absent-mindedly felt her cheek.

"Jaden had a match with Shannon last night," Mark explained. "Shannon lost and snapped. She bit Jaden on the face."

"Bit? Like a bite bite or one of our bites?" Jeff demanded, staring at Jaden, his eyes searching her cheeks.

"One of our bites." Jaden whispered, still touching her cheek, feeling the hole that was no longer there. "She ripped out a huge chunk of meat."

"She did what?" Jeff roared, his voice going up several decibels.

Jaden clamped a hand over his mouth. "Quiet, you'll make someone go deaf with your loud mouth."

Isis frowned. "If they're being that open about it, I guess we should go somewhere and stay low. When mortals discover those two for what they are, I don't feel like being around."

"Are we decided then?" Mark asked, looking at the other two.

Jeff was holding Jaden, stroking her hair. He glanced at Mark and nodded sharply.

"Well then, let's get the hell outta dodge." Isis laughed.

***

"What're we doing? I thought you wanted to hunt." Shannon said, following Glenn's gaze to a hotel across the street from where they stood.

"I am hunting." He replied, glancing down at her. "Come on."

Mildly curious, Shannon followed him. She started smiling when she caught a whiff of Jaden's scent, guessing what they were here for.

She followed Glenn throughout the hotel, her smiling deepening when they finally halted in front of a door, all four scents now a strong blend. "Mmm…"

Glenn glanced down at her, an evil grin on his own face. "Ready?"

She nodded eagerly.

Glenn didn't bother knocking, instead he kicked the door in, something no mortal man would have been able to do. He stepped into the room, the door creaking under his weight. "Guess who's home?" He called, surveying the dark room.

Shannon stepped in behind him. "Are they here?" She whispered.

Glenn ignored her, walking towards the bedrooms.

Shannon stayed put, playing guard. She winced when she heard something break followed by his screams of anger, guessing the four had already left.

"Those bastards!" Glenn screeched, storming back out, tugging at his curly hair in frustration. "They fucking left!"

Shannon peered out into the hallway. "Baby, we've got company coming." She said calmly.

Glenn nodded, seeming to calm down though the look in his eyes was anything but.

***

"How much farther?" Isis asked softly, glancing across the car at Mark.

He kept his eyes fastened on the road, navigating the highway easily, even at the fast, illegal speed he was driving. "We'll have to find a place to hide for the night."

Isis nodded, sparing a look at the two curled together in the back seat. She sighed and settled herself in for a long ride.

***

Jaden glanced up when she felt the car come to a halt. Looking out the window she spotted a motel and frowned. "Um… is this safe?"

"This place has no windows." Mark said, looking in the rearview mirror at her.

"How do… never mind." She shook her head. "I don't want to know, I just want to get some sleep."

A few short minutes later they were checked into one room. The only problem was it had just one bed, a king sized bed, but one bed.

"How the hell are we all gonna fit?" Isis demanded, staring at it. "You'd take up half of it Mark."

"Jeff and I can take the floor, near the door, incase anyone tries to get in." Mark said, shoving the ground model televsision then the small dresser in front of the door.

Jaden and Isis exchanged looks before shrugging.

***

"This is so sick." Jeff commented conversationally, staring at the bottle of blood he was sipping on. "Mark, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"How the hell can you drink this shit?"

Mark scowled.

Isis turned in her seat to stare back at him. "Shut up."

Jeff grinned and saluted her. "Yes my queen."

Jaden giggled while Isis struggled to keep a straight face.

Jeff returned to the bottle, knowing they didn't have time to hunt but all the same… wishing he could at least of picked up a cat or something, anything that was warm!

***

Glenn was in a rotten mood.

Shannon tried to steer clear of him, not wanting to provoke his temper but that seemed impossible. Every time she stood up, he demanded to know what she was doing and where she was going, as if she was trying to leave him.

It had been a week since the four had disappeared. They hadn't attended any of the shows, nobody had heard from them.

It was driving Glenn nuts. He had started taking his frustrations out on his prey, toying cruelly with them before violently killing them, leaving the bodies laying right out in the open.

Shannon tried to snap necks and make it look like a normal murder instead of something freakish but it was hard to keep up with Glenn sometimes. He had taken to walking around cities at night, talking to himself, frightening people who came into contact with him.

Under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed this. She thrived on chaos, always had. But she too was wondering what those sons of bitches were up too, certain that this was a game.

Finally, after two weeks, Glenn appeared to have calmed down. He walked into the bathroom where she was applying make-up and leaned in the doorway.

"Yes?" Shannon halted, a tube of mascara in hand, turning her head to look at him.

"My dear, I've reached a decision." He said slowly.

She arched an eyebrow.

"We're going hunting… for a different sort of prey than usual."

Shannon's face lit up with an evil smile, her eyes lighting up as well. "Them?"

He nodded. "We're leaving first thing tomorrow night so make sure you have everything you need for traveling."

"I will baby." She smirked, turning back to the mirror.

Glenn smiled, disappearing from the bathroom.

***