Chapter 13: For the Love of Entertaiment.
Hope woke up from her nap with a jarring start. Her face trained on the north-west wall of their small motel room. Her senses were burning, her blue eyes fixed fiercely forward. Even though she woke, she didn't know what caused her supernatural senses to light up.
The girl perked her ears, sifted out the sounds of the highway, blocked out the subway, and listened through the little ticking-dripping-scraping noises. She trained each part of her very being to find the disturbance. She took a deep, calculating breath in.
Then she knew: "Thom."
Hope was to her feet as if she had levitated out of the bed by herself. She kicked off her bunny bed-slippers and reached out for her faded sweater and her hunting knife. Some time during the din, Elda had awakened. The old woman was instantly alert and she reached over for her own knife on the bedside table.
"What's wrong, Hope?" but even before the tween replied, Elda already knew what to expect.
"Something has happened to Thomas," said the little wolf girl, shoving her feet into her boots. "Let's go."
Elda wasted no time to run out of the lodgings, and they picked the first car that was available. The sun was low in the sky, but the night was far away yet. Despite the time, the moon (three quarters full) swelled low on the sunset sky. It was a bright and broken white disk among clouds of sunset red-orange.
A storm was coming.
With the experience of ages, Elda swept her knitting needles deep into the locks and starters of the icy blue Lincoln Town. Despite its age, the car roared to life, black smoke hissing out of its teeth. Hope crammed herself into the car and only managed to close the door after the old legacy pulled out of the parking spot.
"Can you feel him?" Hope asked as she threw open the glove compartment. Empty bottles of energy shots tumbled out and the little 'wolf rolled her eyes. She pushed away the paper napkins, plastic bottles and CD's without cases before she finally found the car's registry. She flipped through it, before handing the whole file to Elda.
The old woman only needed to glance at it before she gave it back to Hope. "We should be good for a few hours."
"Ditch the car before we reach the Cage."
"You sure?"
"I don't want—" she looked at the registration again, "-the Carlson's to have any run-ins with unwanted fangs. Just let them think someone took their car for a joyride."
Elda didn't question the child on that matter, instead she said: "I meant are you sure we're going to the Cage."
"It's the only place that I can think of."
"The hotel?"
"Too far north." Then she pointed down an alley, "Oh wait, no, that one." And obediently Elda turned. Once they were on the main roads, they couldn't make much faster progress though most of the evening rush was going the opposite way from them. The closer to the city end they reached, the less the old werewolf needed Hope's instructions.
Elda could feel the pull of her pack as if the very car itself was driving. Ten minutes later she could almost smell Thom's spirit.
Beside the driver, Hope was getting battle-lusty and the old 'wolf recognized the eminent beginning of a bloodhunt. Being a legacy hunter herself, Elda knew exactly what the little girl was feeling; puberty and hunger was almost always volatile mix for a 'wolf blood.
Hope was twice warrior born, and Elda knew she will be the strongest hunter ever to have belonged to the Reserve, even if she were just a legacy. And not for the first time, Elda shuddered to think what Hope could have been as a purebred.
Maybe this is scarier.
"The traffic is bad here," Elda nodded, as the weekend rush started to flow in their direction.
"Can you run?"
"Will you carry me?" Elda chuckled, then she pulled the car to a stop at a shopping mall. "Hope, lock the door."
And the little girl opened the door to lock it from the inside, "go."
They ran the last three city blocks to the Cage's public entrance. Elda breathing cleanly through her teeth, siphoned the werewolf out of Hope's spirit.
- - - -{Elsewhere}- - - -
"Where are they?"
Olfaq seemed to find the fist in his face funny, for he started to cackle when Mitchell's hand drew from the butler's jaw with a string of black vampire blood. "Oh. Stop, I can't breathe," and he laughed harder.
"I can still smell his blood on your hands!" Mitchell threw the vampire across the room. Aiden caught him before he could gather his wits and propped him roughly to his standing position. Immediately, Mitchell hit the vampire again.
"I would consider telling the good man," Aiden allowed a ghost of a smile to fleck through his fangs. His voice reflected the sound a business man makes when he talks to a potential client but the twinkle in his eyes conveyed that Aiden was supremely satisfied with watching his companion smack around the little entertainment guide about for breaking into his house and kidnapping their friends. "I think he's impatient."
Sally crossed her arms over her body, mostly to cover her half exposed chest since the cold werewolf ring felt filthy and exposure to it made her supernatural skin sweat. She clamped her jaw tightly when the butler rolled his deep soaked eyes under his fluttering lids. He turned his features to the ghosts.
Annie was glaring unhappily. She had looked at the Hotel, then at the safe house, then to the pens. She knew he was here, but not where.
"O-oh," sang the vampire, "All the pretty wolves. I wonder where I should hide mine."
"In the Cage?"
"How uncreative," Mitchell grumbled, and Olfaq snapped at him. The vampire king decided to spit on him for laughing.
"Sally, go check the pens again."
"Sally don't." Olfaq laughed. But the ghosts just glared at him, and disappeared together.
"You're sick," Aiden stated, calmly.
"You're just upset you can't call mommy for help."
"And you think this will be something she approves of?" This time Aiden did laugh, and that made the butler visibly uncomfortable. "Oh, you are going to be in so much trouble."
"I have a back up plan." The man retorted. "And Mother's not as important as she thinks she is."
Aiden's eyes narrowed, "What have you done?"
But Mitchell knew, "He made a pact with Snow."
The American swallowed back a curse then resisted the urge to tear out the captive's heart. But he knew better; he knew Snow – and he knew it was almost impossible to resist any offer the ancient man presented. He knew the way to every vampire's darkest desires. And he knew his way to the corners he wanted to be in. "Scum."
"So the Old Ones know they're here?" Mitchell's question sounded a lot like a statement.
"They want them here. He doesn't know why we don't fight them. Come, what is more entertaining than watching two of your best friends fight to the death? They wanted a show: well, we're going to have one."
"Mother wouldn't."
"Okay, well Mother doesn't know. But she's just one vampire."
Aiden almost snapped the defiant butler's vampire neck. Then a cell phone rang and they all halted in their tracks.
"Oh. Sorry," Olfaq giggled, "That's mine."
- - - -{Elsewhere}- - - -
Hope found the wolves first, caged individually at a corner room in the storage area. Other wolves were clamoring for help, but Elda and Hope stayed focus. The old woman was fumbling with Thom's lock while Hope circled the edges of the room, taking everything in.
"Where is the Evebringer?"
Thom sniffed, and replied, "we were split up when we arrived. George and Josh should be here somewhere."
"We need to get him," thought Elda trying another lock pick. "If these fangs get him first…"
"We don't know if they've identified him yet. It could be his relationship to that other vampire that they are interested in." And Hope then turned to her companions, "We should leave him here and re-group. The moon is next week, in four days we'll be strong enough to wake the others potential."
Before either could say anything about the matter, the door to the pen swung open and chaos erupted from the room. Hope spun about with her teeth bared. She wasn't expecting what she saw, a brown haired child of ten, grinning broadly at the little werewolf.
"A puppy?" Hettie seemed happy, "Oh how sweet." And she tore out her fangs. Before Hope had a chance to react, the Old One's bloodlust flared and the girls broke out into a fight. Hope scratched Hettie across the forearm and was then smacked across the jaw. She fell into a cage and hands held her tightly as if she could pull them through the bars.
Elda had at some point, gotten up to attack but Hettie dispatched her quickly, the old woman flying into the little vampire's escorts. The Old One that had invaded the apartment grabbed her and kicked her hard into a silver cage. Elda was a warrior, but she was still old, and she was subdue quickly. This was why she stayed behind when Hope and Thom went on the missions with old fangs.
"Ma," Thom threw his body against his cage, he flashed his teeth and he wished he could call upon his wolf to dismember the assailant. "Hey deadbeat. Let me out and I'll show you real entertainment."
"Let me go," Hope snarled, and instantly all the werewolves complied. She leapt to her feet, but the moment was all Hettie needed to take the upper hand. And before there could be anything said, Hettie was beating the little red-head's face in with a broken silver chain.
"I'll rip out your throat!" Thom roared, his voice grating hard. And he threw his whole being against the bars every time Hettie's whip crashed into Hope's little body. The Legacy wasn't moving, she was barely breathing and she looked at her pack brother with the eye that was not bloody and swollen.
'Don't worry, Thom.' And he swallowed back the fear, and he let her carry his responsibility. Of course she had it under control. And he felt useless. And he barked loudly, slamming his chest against the bars one last time.
"Put down that old dog. I want to play with this one," and the vampire indicated to the trio. Hope tried not to look worried when they pulled her up the hall of the pens into the office. And Elda was dragged out of the pens to the back of the room, so she could be shot.
"So what are you going to do now, without your precious alpha?" Dublin sneered, glaring at Thom with his deepened black eyes. "Especially now that I get to shoot her," the barrel of the gun was pressed up against the old wolf's face.
"The alpha will manage," Thom replied. "It's my grandmother you should worry about."
And Elda grinned.
It all happened so fast, Dublin didn't know what to think, and he pulled the trigger letting the silver death fly from its barrel.
- - - -{Office}- - - -
Olfaq led the intruder to the Cage's office where they came face to face with Hettie holding Hope at the end of a leash.
Aiden's knee jerk reaction was to arm up and snap the silver chain, but Hope stared at him through fiery eyes as if there was something in her that couldn't change—it was the stubborn determination and the telling glare that said, 'don't give it up.'
His façade.
They couldn't know they were friends. So Aiden backed away and glared at Hettie, "What are you doing to this girl, Madam Hettie. Can't you see she's just a child?"
"Can't you see she's a werewolf," Hettie laughed, "We've been here two days and the only thing we've done was drink virgins. I'm really bored."
"You want to play?"
Hettie yanked the silver chain and Hope visibly cringed. Marks like brands tore across her skin, and the mud from the pen floor smeared into her open wounds. They were hot and broken, but still she knelt defiantly.
"Don't you?"
Aiden looked down on the werewolf apologetically, then said: "What did you have in mind?"
"I want to see this one suffer. I haven't had a playmate in a while. And she's oh so cute and young…"
"Wolf upon wolf, next week…" Aiden stepped away from behind Olfaq and said, "Don't you want to watch them all change."
"We can spare a few," grinned the butler, "For a pregame, that is." Aiden gave Olfaq a mean glare and the old butler relished in the idea that he could be a better influence to the old ones than Aiden was. "Why not use her as a prize?"
"That doesn't sound fun," Hettie looked down unhappily at the girl and Hope snarled.
"Just think of this: There are twenty one wolves in the cage from the last moon. They don't actually know what they are. If we tell some of them, say five or six, that they can earn their freedom from us by killing this little… anomaly, then we'll let whoever wins go free. And they won't even know they will turn. It'll be chaos in the city the next day. But they have to kill her. In the Maze. No weapons."
"And we get to watch it all?" Hettie did contemplate this. "Sounds different…"
"I do not recommend it," started Aiden.
"Let's do it." Hope interrupted loudly, "I agree. I agree. And if I survive, I get to go."
"You won't survive," cautioned Aiden trying to get the 'wolf girl to back down.
Aiden's instant discouragement of the little arrangement obviously meant that the idea appealed to the little Old One even more. "Can we even convince them to kill a little girl?"
"I can compel a few of them to."
"Very well, choose some and we'll play tonight."
"On one condition!" Hope leapt to her feet, and said, "Thom will participate and if they kill me, they go free."
Hettie looked suspiciously around then tried to choose whether to smile or frown, "Are you planning on sacrificing yourself for your pack? What they say about American werewolves must be so true."
"Let them participate," Hope narrowed her eyes at the little monster, the defiance in every part of her spirit strong. Despite how broken her body was.
Hettie made a funny face then as if she didn't care, said, "alright."
"This is a mistake," Aiden said haughtily.
"A mistake, Mr. Waite," the little vampire sang, "was leaving John Mitchell alone with my emissary." She picked at her nails, "I would hate to think of what would happen to your poor house pets if Mr. Snow managed to flatter your man."
"Mother won't stand for assassins."
"Assassins? Is that what you think is going on here?" Hettie laughed honestly. "Please. You don't really think Mr. Snow is as petty to hire thugs just to get ahead of some... social club? I wouldn't worry about his plans if I were you."
And all of a sudden, Aiden worried.