“You must be Jason. It’s a pleasure to finally meet the man who captured Rose’s generous heart. I’m Gavin Newark, former mentor and teacher of these hellions.”
Jason coldly stared at the outstretched hand, but did not take it in his own. Rose gave him a pleading look. She silently begged him not to appear stoic toward her former mentor.
Instead of complying, Jason merely nodded his head. “Likewise, Gavin.”
Gavin lifted an eyebrow and lowered his hand. He still appeared to regard Jason kindly. “Well…now that the introductions are out of the way…”
“Yeah. Let’s head inside. We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Glen continued. “There are others here, waiting for you guys. We’ll start the meeting whenever you’re ready.”
Rose nodded and reached for Jason’s hand. She squeezed it once for comfort. Now that they were here, she was already feeling better, but she had noticed the look in Jason’s eyes and she knew he felt otherwise.
“Please try to be nice, love. These people are here to help us.”
“Rose, I know,” Jason said impatiently as he closed the door behind him. “But I can’t help but to be on my guard and you know that.”
“I know.” Rose sighed. She watched Gavin and Glen disappear down the hall. “Just, please…”
“No guarantees, Rose, but I’ll try.”
Satisfied by the answer, Rose gave his hand another squeeze.
Chapter Sixteen
Gas station and convenience store food always made Davis sick. Not physically ill, but it made him lose all desire to eat. But Simon was frugal and it was the only food he had eaten in the past few days. The reheated hamburger went down without argument or complaint.
Claire shared his sentiment toward the food and picked at her burger distastefully. Eric and Simon said nothing to anyone and devoured their food in silence.
They had arrived at the right town, around the middle of the day. The sun was overhead, but it was doing little to warm the atmosphere. In fact, Davis was sure it had gotten a lot colder.
Or maybe that was just Simon projecting his icy aura.
Davis threw the man a contemptuous glance as he took the last few bites of his burger. Simon has really gone too far this time, he mused. Simon always went too far, but Davis was about to draw the line. He wasn’t going to let Simon control him forever. He was going to stand up to him and show him a thing or two…
Despite the flaring anger he felt, he was trembling. Simon was an inferno of instability, and Davis had crossed the threshold one too many times. He was almost afraid to do it again.
Almost.
He turned his attention toward the road and watched motorists speed by. Idly, he lifted a hand and felt at the bandage on his forehead. It wasn’t hurting anymore, and the lump had nearly disappeared. Guess he didn’t have a concussion after all.
Davis couldn’t explain it, but it had always been that way for him. Even when he was young, going from foster home to foster home, getting into all kinds of shit. There was one time when he had jumped out of a tree and had thought he had broken his leg. The doctors at the emergency room said it was fine, just a little sprain, but Davis was so sure he had heard it crack.
And why was it that the medication he took always seemed to hinder his recovery? He did so much better without meds, and he always found that odd…
His reminiscences were interrupted when Eric coughed gruffly. Davis turned his attention to the dark skinned man and raised an eyebrow. Eric looked at him with an amused expression.
“You didn’t bruise your brain when he threw you through the window, did you?” he asked with laughter in his voice. Simon watched and waited for Davis’ expression.
Davis scowled and rolled his eyes. He chose to ignore it, but Simon continued the jest.
“He can’t bruise what he never had, Eric.” He wadded up the foil wrapper to the burger and tossed it toward a nearby garbage can. It landed perfectly inside.
Simon resumed his spot, his back against the side of the van. The sliding back door was open, and Claire was seated on the step. She looked like she was about to laugh. Eric chuckled.
Davis was mortified and felt the heat rise into his cheeks again. Simon’s favorite pastime lately was giving him a hard time. Once more, Davis didn’t rise to the challenge. Instead, he pulled his knees up further, situated his bottom so it was seated on the curb, and rested his elbows on his knees. His head soon found a place in the palms of his hands.
The laughter continued, but Claire’s wasn’t among them. And he found himself wondering just why he was thankful for that.
Claire watched Davis’ face redden and then disappear as he hid it between his hands. She sighed and looked down at her half-eaten sandwich in disgust. She had lost her appetite long before they had even stopped at this run down gas station.
Carefully, she wrapped the burger back into the foil and set it beside her in the van. She swung her legs as she looked around the nearly empty parking lot. Simon talked in low tones to Eric, and occasionally he would cast a glance in her direction. Like Davis, Claire chose to ignore it.
A few moments later, Eric began to saunter away. He grabbed Davis by the back of the shirt and hoisted him up.
“What the fuck!?” Davis protested. He jerked himself away from Eric’s vice-like grip.
“Make yourself scarce, jackass,” he answered. He looked over his shoulder first at Simon, then at Claire. A sardonic look crossed Eric’s face.
“Fine. Fuck it. I hate you guys.” Davis tore away from Eric and entered the gas station first. The two men disappeared inside.
For the second time since they had begun on this endeavor, Claire was alone with Simon. She felt the fear begin to rise within her.
Simon smirked as he paced back and forth in front of the door. He wasn’t giving Claire a chance to run, if she so chose to do. But Claire wasn’t stupid. She sat where she was, looked at him and waited.
“Claire…I want to talk to you about a few things.”
“All right.” Claire wrapped her arms around her waist nervously, and waited for him to continue.
Simon gave something akin to a dark chuckle, with a brief shake of his head. He seemed to really ponder his words before he opened his mouth.
“I don’t want you causing any trouble.”
Claire blinked, wondering just what had suggested she would. She was just about to voice it when Simon lifted a finger to indicate he wasn’t finished.
“Let me finish, Claire. You may get some radical ideas. You may decide you don’t want to be a part of this or you may decide you would rather see my plan fall through.” Simon paused, looming over her. He became a massive shadow and blocked out the sun. Claire continued to stare at him, unable to think of words to say now.
“I never wanted you to know what was going on, in fact, that was part of the plan. I wanted you to sit, oblivious to everything, typing away at your programs, handing over money when needed. I never questioned your intelligence, Claire. Don’t get me wrong. You’re brilliant…but too brilliant.”
It was here his face and voice turned dark. His eyes seemed to blaze as he stared down at her. Claire felt intimidated, and her eyes went wide with fear.
“My warning to you, Claire, don’t get stupid. Don’t do anything stupid. In fact, don’t even think stupid.” A malicious grin spread across his face. Claire swallowed hard.
“I’ve not come this far for some uppity snobbish valley girl with daddy’s money to ruin it for me.” There was another pause, and Simon lowered his voice. “There’s only one way out, sweetheart, and it’s not pretty. You’re involved, like it or not, and you’re not going anywhere unless you’re in a body bag. Do you understand me?”
Claire was at a loss for words. The verbal threat hurt a million times more than the barrel of a gun she had stared down earlier in their mission. She swallowed once more. Her mouth had gone dry.
“Do you understand?” Simon repeated, through clenched teeth this ti
me. His eyes were beginning to scare her.
“Yes,” she said hoarsely, then, “Yes” louder.
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Simon chuckled.
“Good. I’ve got to take a piss.” He sternly looked at her. He gave her a last warning. “Keep what I said in mind, will you?”
With that, he left her alone there and entered the gas station. Claire let out a breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding. All of her hopes for getting out of this mess were now dashed. She closed her eyes and fought back tears that hurt behind her lids.
What am I going to do now? A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and fell hot against her cheek. She brushed it away, annoyed at herself for crying.
The chiming bell on the gas station door rang and Claire opened her eyes. She quickly wiped them with the sleeve of her jacket. It was only Davis.
“I swear Simon is the biggest asshole I have ever met,” Davis said. He paused and looked down at Claire. “Hey…you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Claire answered. She wiped her eyes once more for good measure. Her gaze was focused on the door of the gas station. “I agree. He is the biggest asshole I have ever met.”
Davis sat down beside her. “You’re lucky. You’ve only known him a short time. I’ve had to put up with his shit for more than a year. It feels like forever though.” He gave a faint shake of his head.
Claire looked over at him, a slightly confused look on her face. “Why do you stick around? Did he give you the same lecture about ‘the only way out is in a body bag’?”
Davis’ face blanched a moment, and he didn’t look at Claire right away.
“Not exactly.” He took a deep breath.
“Oh?” Claire said. She lifted an eyebrow. Her sarcastic tone fell when she saw the true seriousness of his face. She blinked a few times. She remembered Simon’s words, “That secret is safe with me.” She opened her mouth to ask about it, when he interrupted.
“If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone…ever?” His grey eyes turned to her and Claire found herself staring at him, not exactly sure how to answer. She was afraid of what he might tell her. Maybe she didn’t want to know. On the other hand, she began to think there was something more to Davis than just a sniveling scumbag. And she was curious.
“I promise,” she said.
Davis hesitated a moment, but when he did speak, he did so in a low whisper, almost so low that Claire couldn’t hear him well. She leaned closer.
“Last year, when I first joined with Simon, he made me do something. He had me do a…initiation of sorts. He wanted me to prove just how serious I was about the whole werewolf thing and just how far I was willing to go. I was so stupid.”
Claire listened. Her mouth went dry and her throat locked up.
“He had me track down a werewolf family. I still remember where they lived. I still remember the names…” He paused, as if he was just remembering something else, but soon continued.
“He went with me, to make sure I’d do it. He had me kill the woman. I didn’t know it, but she was a mom, and her kid was watching as I killed her. He was about sixteen, or seventeen, I don’t know. I never wanted to kill anyone…”
His voice sounded pained, and Claire was suddenly aware of the new tears starting in her eyes. She blinked them back and continued to listen even though she wanted nothing more than to cover her ears.
“I didn’t want to. I wasn’t going to kill the kid, but Simon started shooting and the boy ran and got away. I’ve never killed anyone since then. I can’t do it.”
There was silence now, and Claire felt uncomfortable. Davis had been an unwilling participant in some sick game of Simon’s. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
“Wow.” It was all she could say. The shock of it had been too much.
Davis pulled away from her and stood up. He moved a few steps away from the van. He faced the road and silently stared out at the cars. His face had grown hard set and grim. Claire felt it best to give him the space, and so she didn’t approach him.
But now, she had a lot more thinking to do. Simon was worse than she could ever have thought. He had made Davis kill someone, in front of a kid no less, and apparently was still holding it over his head. A renewed hatred for Simon grew within her.
And the worst part of it all was she could do nothing about it.
Davis returned to the van, but didn’t resume his seat. Instead, he stood and stared toward the glass doors of the gas station. Simon and Eric were at the checkout. He narrowed his eyes.
“They’ll be out here soon.” He gave the warning. He didn’t look away, but continued to speak to her.
“I never told anyone about what happened that night. I’m not proud of it. I hate myself for it.”
Claire looked up at him and squinted when the light hit her eyes.
“So, that’s why you turn to the drugs, huh?”
Davis gave a slight shrug. “Mostly, I guess. I just want to forget about it. I want to dull the pain. I just…” He fell silent. The ringing bell signaled the approach of Eric and Simon.
“I know,” Claire said, lowering her voice. “We can talk about it later.”
“Yeah,” Davis agreed. He stepped up into the van and resumed his seat. Claire finished cleaning up her mess and got up to throw the stuff in the trash. Eric’s cigarette smoke swirled around her.
“What were you and the jackass talking about?” he asked. He had an eyebrow lifted, and Claire was under the impression that Simon had put him up to the interrogation.
She played it off with a shrug. “Not much. Just about how much he hates the werewolves and can’t wait to get his revenge.” Claire winced inside. She was a horrible liar.
Eric apparently thought so too, because he chuckled and said, “I don’t believe you.”
“Well, believe what you will, big man,” she retorted and returned to the van. She took her place and returned to the blue screen of the laptop in front of her. The log was nearly complete…or rather, her journal was nearly complete. The log idea had become botched with Claire’s own personal musings and feelings. She had a lot more to add now.
Eric crushed out his cigarette and took over the job of driving. He glanced behind him at Claire, then at Simon beside him. He spoke in a hushed tone.
“You sure you got through to her?”
Simon clenched his jaw as Eric started the engine and began to back out of the parking place. He watched Claire in the review mirror. He didn’t even have to ask. He knew she had been talking with Davis about something.
“Apparently not,” he muttered.
He would have to figure out a better way to get his point across. Claire was very hardheaded it seemed.
But then again, so was he.
Davis occupied himself with removing the bandage from his forehead. Claire glanced up just in time to see him remove the bloodstained rag. The place where the gash had been was bruised a faint green and purple, and the cut didn’t look so bad. The swelling had gone down. It was finally healing now he had ignored the drugs.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Claire said, and Davis looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt much either. Guess I was just overreacting about it.”
Claire laughed softly, and then stopped as it sounded unfamiliar and hollow in the presence of Simon.
“Yeah…you tend to do that…”
“Shut up, both of you.” Simon’s voice boomed from the front.
“Yeah,” Davis said, but he gave Claire a significant glance that probably meant “I really hate that guy”.
And Claire found herself nodding in agreement.
Chapter Seventeen
The collective footfalls echoed loudly in the spacious hall, and Jason had to pause to get his bearings. The place was huge! He hadn’t thought it would be so spacious from an outside glance, and it was fancy. It was not at all what he had expected. And to think Rose spent most of her childhood her
e.
Gavin and Rose were deep in conversation ahead of him, but Jason lingered back. Glen watched him with a close stare.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
Jason shrugged and looked up toward the second floor landing. He hung back and Glen stopped with him. Gavin and Rose disappeared into another room. He took the opportunity to inquire something in a quiet tone.
“Were you followed?” He looked at Jason, his brown eyes held a touch of concern.
Jason shook his head. “Not that I know of. I did everything you said. I guess I’m just uneasy.”
“Yeah,” Glen agreed. He stared at Jason as if he wished to say something more. Jason lifted an eyebrow.
“What?”
Glen exhaled. “Rose. She’s not looking so great. What happened?”
Jason closed his eyes. He hadn’t realized they would have to recount all of the events of the past few days. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
“You don’t want to know, Glen. It would just piss you off.”
“Try me. She’s my cousin. She’s like a little sister to me, in fact. I have a right to know.”
“Glen—”
“Jason, tell me.” Glen’s eyes had taken on a slight golden hue. Jason stared at him. He could see there would be no arguing the point. He took a deep breath before he began.
“She was shot, twice. Once in the shoulder, and a second time through the side. Luckily, it missed any internal organs and she only suffered an extreme blood loss.”
A very low growl sounded from Glen, and he turned his head away. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath.
“Fucking hunters.” He barely breathed.
Jason gave something like a soft chuckle. “Yeah, my thoughts exactly.”
It was then that Jason noticed Glen’s clenched fists, how his extra long fingernails were digging into his palms. Blood had been drawn and it had begun to drip to the floor. The smell of it started to fill the air.
“Glen…” He spoke quietly and reached out a hand. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew how it would affect you.”
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