by Holly Hook
But as soon as the sun set, Maisha's footsteps approached the front door. I recognized the way she landed on the outside of her right foot with each step. I tensed as I washed up the last of the dishes in the sink. Mom had made lasagna, and I'd retreated to my room to pretend to eat and study. Some tension in my gut had broken up even though I hadn't heard a thing about the party attack. Mom might mention it if she saw it on the news. She had a thing about ranting about everything she hated about current events and I was the only one in earshot most of the time.
I dropped the plate back into the sudsy water and listened as Maisha stopped in the hallway. She took a nervous breath. I detected no one else with her or coming up the stairs or elevator. My enhanced senses were coming in handy. So she hadn't gone to the ATC on me.
Mom had retreated to the living room to read a magazine which left me to answer the door. Since I didn't want to scare my friend off, I waited for her to knock. She tapped on the door at first, waited, and then knocked louder.
"Who's at the door?" Mom asked.
I stood on my tiptoes and looked out the peephole. "My friend, Maisha," she said. "Maybe she wants to go out." What if Alyssa and Xavier wanted to check out the facility tonight? What excuse would I have?
Mom relaxed. I hadn't realized she was giving off adrenaline until now. We hadn't had many visitors to the apartment yet, but it seemed she still had a fear of Alyssa and Xavier showing.
I opened the front door. Maisha shifted leg to leg.
"Hey," I said, glad I'd done my teeth filing earlier. "Want to come in?"
"I'm good."
So she still feared me. That was great.
Until last week, I thought Maisha would find this cool. The whole experience in the bunker had changed things.
"It's fine," I said. "We're good for visitors and done unpacking boxes."
Maisha's gaze landed on my mother, who waved. She was my acceptable Normal friend. Then she stepped inside. I wasn't likely to bite her in front of my mom. Maisha didn't give off scent other than the metallic one of fear. Today, she had skipped eating.
Even though she was trying to hide it, Maisha had a terror of stepping into my room. She didn't stray far from my door and when I went to close it she hesitated to get out of the way. Mom didn't notice, which was thankful since my door faced the living room and was at the mouth of the hallway.
But I closed the door, feeling bad. "I'm sorry about last week," I said.
"You're sorry? You were the one saying you didn't want to kill me," Maisha said. "I wanted to say I was sorry to you, for not talking to you in the past week. It was crappy of me."
Maisha told the truth. I could read the strain of her words and the guilt she carried. It hadn't been easy for her to come here tonight. Who needed mind reading abilities when you had an amazing sense of body language and could pick up more than words in voices? It was almost the same thing and a lifesaver. Maisha definitely wasn't here to turn me over to the ATC, then.
I breathed out the tension I'd been holding. "Well, you found out something scary about me and Roslyn," I said.
"Alyssa. We both know she's Alyssa Choy," Maisha said. "She Turned you, didn't she?"
"It wasn't on purpose and it was my fault. I got in her way so she wouldn't bite her boyfriend. That would have been bad because the mayor wanted to use her in that rite to end the world, and that was one step. It's a long story." The urge to talk had come over me as usual. My mother always said I had that problem. Maybe she was right. Should I be spilling all this to Maisha after she ran away from me? "You haven't had the chance to tell me your side of the story yet."
"Well, I ran out of that bunker when you distracted that scary vampire--"
"Bathory. As in the woman who used to bathe in the blood of young girls to make herself more beautiful."
Maisha's eyes widened. "I thought she died a long time ago after people locked her in her castle. And that she was a very deranged Normal or a demon."
"The demon theory is popular," I said. "Alyssa used to think she was one before she met her. Historians are still trying to figure out what she was. The blood part is right." I shuddered. "She was the first vampire and older than everyone thinks. Alyssa says she might be thousands of years old, not hundreds. The mayor was even older and he helped create her. We don't know the details, but I'm sure that however the demon baron turned her into the first vampire was sick."
We both shuddered, making a show of it. Maisha nodded. "I bet it was something we wouldn't want to see."
I lifted my finger to my lips, urging her to stay quiet. My mother was in the next room. So far, I didn't hear her trying to eavesdrop. Mom hadn't done that since we moved in here, and it was a sign she suspected nothing was wrong with me. In fact, she turned another page of her magazine.
"Why don't we head somewhere? A movie, maybe?" I didn't want to risk the mall again so soon after Bathory had sent people after me and Alyssa. It had a small attached theater, but there were others in town.
I checked my phone to make sure the two of them hadn't called or given me a meeting signal. Xavier might be trying to recruit people from the Underground to stake out the facility under Primrose's nose. Wasn't she supposed to be in Italy right now on her trip? Wow, I hated her. But we wouldn't make any moves until we had a good plan. I could go see a movie with Maisha, right? It was early in the night and I wasn't hungry again yet. Besides, Maisha didn't smell like food. Everyone knew that vampires preferred the blood of people who had eaten the most recently.
"Okay. A movie," she said. "We can take the bus. There's one that leaves from the corner in ten minutes."
"My car's back from the shop," I said. "They just fixed the windshield."
"I don't want to make you use gas," Maisha said.
Translation: she still didn't want to be alone with me yet. I might lose control and bite her. Maybe the trust would come back in time. It hurt, but I understood. At least she was talking to me.
I wouldn't tell her about my adventures last night. Not yet, anyway.
But I still felt dirty. "Look, I won't bite you. I have no urge to do it right now and I've filed down these teeth." I showed her. "There's no way I could do it right now, anyway. That won't be a problem for another day or two."
"Um, okay."
"But we can still take the bus," I said. That might put her at ease, but I also would not put Maisha in danger. I wanted control of our vehicle in case we had to make a break for it. The memory of the old vampire—Lawrence—clinging onto the side of the other city bus like an airplane gremlin roared back. And if we took public transportation, a driver might recognize me. The older man who had driven us from the mall that night must know my description. He must talk to other drivers. My bribe wouldn't have gone very far.
Maisha appeared to think. "The car will work," she said at last.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Only if you're fine with it," I said. "What movie do you want to see?"
"There's that eighties nostalgia one about the kid who dives into that video game world," Maisha said. "Those video game movies are getting popular now."
"Sounds good," I said, grabbing my car keys.
I told Mom where I was going. Now that I was hanging out with my Normal friend, she was fine. If Alyssa had come over, she would have forbade the night out unless Xavier was with her. Check that. After news spread that Alyssa had been at school the day the fake ATC agents swarmed it and abducted people, she wouldn't have allowed it at all. Mom still didn't know I'd been one of the abducted. She'd flip.
She told us to have fun, and for me to get back by eleven. Reasonable. The movie wouldn't take that long. I might even have time to go check on George after it got done. The Super Eight was only two blocks from the theater, right off the expressway. If Maisha didn't mind, I wanted to apologize to him in person. The guilt still clawed at me from within, driving me nuts. It would until I could see my second cousin face to face.
The parking ramp was empty. I half-expected to see B
rendan waiting, but he was a no-show. I would have loved to have him along at the movies. He had banished himself.
Did he think he didn't deserve to have friends? He wasn't a bad guy. Brendan was smart and funny and cute...
I wanted to punch his family.
It was great being able to drive again. Maisha gave off more of the metallic smell once she got into the car, but that died down as I drove and took the way to the cinema. I made talk about the upcoming dance, which calmed her down. This whole thing was a nice break. It felt normal, like the life I had just left. Maybe I didn't have to abandon it. Before Maisha arrived at my door, I was thinking it was all over.
Soccer wasn't safe for anyone playing with me and I'd stop aging right after college. Then I'd have to hide. This was something I had left.
Before, I thought Turning would be cool. It had taken a chunk of my life away instead. It was no wonder Alyssa hated her state.
Maisha smelled normal once we got into the theater. The movie went by too fast, and once we finished, we were gossiping and laughing with each other. It was only nine-thirty now, so that gave me another hour and a half before I needed to get home.
We got into the car. "I'd take us out to eat," I said, "but you'd be the only participant."
"It's fine. I'm not hungry," she said. Her stomach growled.
"Yes, you are," I said. "You haven't had a thing since at least lunch."
"How did you know?" Maisha's eyes widened. "Is it true that you can tell what I've eaten? There are so many myths out there--"
"I can smell what everyone's eaten," I said. "It's annoying, to tell you the truth. Especially when someone eats liver and onions."
She made a face. "I don't have to eat," she said.
"You sure? Don't starve yourself because of me. Smelling food won't make me lose control." My stomach rumbled a bit. "That only happens if I'm starving."
Maisha shifted. I felt bad for pressing the issue. "Why don't we do something else?"
That reminded me: George. "Maybe we can visit my second cousin," I said. "He's a DJ."
"The one who lost his house?"
"That's him." I detected Maisha's relief. "Just so you know, he's a werewolf, but he doesn't like to use his powers unless the ATC is attacking. And the full moon isn't for another two weeks, so we're good."
"He's what?" Maisha was interested. Before last week, she'd shared my fascination with Abnormals. It seemed to be coming back. "I don't think I've ever met a werewolf."
"Just so you know, he's too old for you."
"I didn't mean it that way!"
"It was a joke. He's in his early twenties. I want to check on him because I might have given him away to the ATC earlier." I started the car and pulled out of the lot. On the way to the Super Eight, I caught Maisha up on everything that happened. Well, except for biting the guy at the party. Even though she still feared me, I trusted her. It felt good to get everything off my chest to my other good friend.
"Well, this makes me feel like the useless human," Maisha said.
"Don't feel that way," I said.
I shocked myself by saying that. It was a feeling I knew well, and one I hated. Now that I was on the other side of things, hunted by the first vampire, being human sounded almost good. But then I reminded myself that no one would have a good time if Bathory succeeded with her plan. It would be almost as bad as merging this world with the Infernal Dimension if she had armed and trained vampires on her side.
With Xavier's god blood on my side, I had the responsibility of helping to stop it. Would Xavier and Alyssa have that power by themselves? Maybe. Maybe not. It was a scary and exhilarating thought.
The Super Eight wasn't hard to reach from the theater. There were several cars in the parking spots, including George's rental from the dealership, a Honda. That alone calmed my nerves. He seemed to be here. I remembered the room number he'd texted me that day in case I wanted to see him. George was a night person, being a DJ, and it seemed like he didn't have work tonight. How could he when he was still messing with the insurance company over whether they needed to pay for dragon attacks?
"He's safe, right?" Maisha asked.
"Yes. George is safe. He helped fight the mayor at the Water Adventure, so he's cool."
Maisha was cooler about seeing him than me. Well, werewolves had no reason to attack Normals, unlike vampires. George left the city when the full moon drew close so he wouldn't hurt anybody. A lot of werewolves did that.
I sniffed the air. Lots of blood infused with junk food and takeout filled the air here. George gave off a doggy smell, but I wasn't picking it up.
"Is something wrong?" Maisha asked.
"I don't smell my cousin," I said.
"Maybe he didn't eat," she said.
"No. He always gives off a scent. He's supposed to be on the second floor. That's within range for me."
I burst into a full run, not caring about the passing traffic and the fact that Maisha could see. His car was here, but George was not. That painted a picture in my head I didn't like.
The motel had a balcony. George's room must be around the corner where I couldn't see, but a breeze blew against that side of the building. I could hear the air moving around the railings, separating and crashing back together. The sound of that same air rushing around an open door followed.
An open door.
Crap.
It took only two seconds for me to rush around the corner of the second floor balcony. I saw what I expected: an open door halfway down the row of rooms, swinging in the wind.
Room 212. George's room.
Maisha followed, puffing up the metal stairs, but I forgot about her as I reached the room.
A faint doggy smell remained, hanging in the air along with faint adrenaline and food smells from Normals. The light was off and the lock on the door broken. The door continued to swing as I took a step into the empty room.
No one had messed up the bed, but the desk sat there, toppled and broken on the floor. The bathroom door also remained open as if George had tried to retreat inside. A struggle had happened in here, and judging from the scents, it had happened less than an hour ago.
Had I skipped the movie, I would have gotten here in time to help my cousin.
And now, because of me, the ATC had taken him to the same facility that Bathory would attack soon.
Chapter Eight
Maisha caught up and hung at the door.
"Whoa," she said. "What happened in here?"
The light was off as if the ATC had been in a rush to subdue George and get out of here. My mind spun. George had used cash to book this room. How could the ATC have figured out where he was?
I flicked the light on so Maisha could see the full horror. I almost didn't want to. My stomach heaved, threatening sickness, but I had nothing in it to barf up. That was the only blessing to this situation.
"They took him," I said.
"Who?"
"The ATC. They burst in here and tased him before he could shift and defend himself," I said. Werewolves were tough and able to withstand both tasers and gunshots—but only while in beast form. The agents must have kicked in his door before he could shift. I checked the carpet and found no traces of wolf fur anywhere. It was true, then. They had taken George while in human form. There also weren't any ripped clothes in the entire room, another sign he hadn't shifted.
"How do you know it wasn't Bathory's people who took him?"
"I can smell that Normals were here," I said. "Bathory isn't trying to capture other types of Abnormals unless she thinks their blood can help her become stronger. The real ATC was in here. That means they've taken George to that facility with the motion detectors around it and the military ready to jump in and defend it." I gripped the fallen table and leaned on it. "It's my fault."
"How is it your fault? You warned your cousin and told him to use cash."
"The ATC must have other ways to track people," I said. "They have that computer system with everyone's addre
sses. And--"
"Phone numbers?" Maisha asked. "What if they can track texts and phone calls?"
I stood up straight and let my mouth fall open. "I hadn't thought of that."
"They need to get shut down," Maisha said. "I've always said the ATC is doing illegal things."
I fished my phone out of my pocket.
George had asked me how I was adjusting earlier.
He had also mentioned the Super Eight and the area it was in.
This was after the ATC had seen me survive a three-story fall from a window. They'd connect the dots. Sure, this was a new phone, contract free. It should still be safe—right? George's phone was older than mine, though, and easier to track. It might be in the system and connected to him by now.
The ATC monitored phone calls. It was the only explanation.
I trembled. There was no privacy anymore. Richard Grimes was stepping up his game. He might know my identity already.
And Bathory would attack the facility that held George. She would turn some agents and kill those who resisted. She might even kill any Abnormals inside she didn't see as useful. And since George had once fought her friend—
He was in danger.
It was my fault.
I paced in a circle as Maisha watched and shifted. "Maybe we should call the police," she said.
"The ATC has more power than the police," I said. "Even cops who don't hate Abnormals have to stand aside. They have everyone's information. I should have told George to go to the Underground instead." What was I saying? I had. He refused. And worse, the ATC would have heard that, too.
"It wasn't your fault," Maisha said. "You didn't know they could track people like this. But maybe the new guy who runs the ATC doesn't want to hurt Abnormals. Maybe he thinks he can cure them, and since your cousin doesn't like being a werewolf--"
"It's the same crap," I said. "They won't cure him. People think they can, but the cures never work. They make people suffer. George will never get out of the facility." Tears threatened to spill, turning the world into a blurry mess. I reached in and drew out my phone. I had to tell Alyssa and Xavier about this and then I had to get George out before Bathory attacked the facility and took it over. His life depended on it.