She would talk to the woman.
* * *
It wasn’t hard for him to find the Dodge Neon, once he followed the blackened marks on the highway. The guard rail on the right side of the road was scraped from contact with another metal surface, broken and bent where it had impacted. The car was on the other side.
The vehicle had hit the guard rail and was forced over the side. It had rolled several hundred feet away from the highway and lay on its wheels.
Jason jumped over the guard rail and slid down the embankment, following the trail of glass and debris. The top and all sides of the car were bent and buckled as the car had rolled top to bottom, bottom to top, all the way to its final stopping place a few hundred feet from a wooded area. It was horrible.
He could still faintly hear the concerned voices coming from the highway, but he ignored the sounds and made his way to the wrecked Neon. All windows were broken out of the car and the glass crunched under his feet as he slowed to a walk. Both back doors of the car were thrown open. Blood dripped from the inside handles.
The driver of the car, a man, was dead. His head rested on his chest, blood splattered everywhere. His legs were trapped underneath the steering wheel. The airbags had opened, as with the hunters' SUV, but it had done nothing. The car was a totaled mess. Jason doubted they would've helped anyway.
Jason lowered his head. Through the thick scent of blood, he caught the scent of full-bloods. They were being hunted.
“Damn it.” He wiped a hand over his forehead and smeared sweat and blood.
From the passenger’s seat, there was a small whimper, prompted by his outburst. It was a woman, pinned to the passenger seat by the dashboard. She was still alive.
Jason rushed to her side of the car and winced when he saw the damage. The door had been crushed into her. She was pinned on all sides. If she lived, she would need the Jaws of Life to get her out. But she didn’t look like she would make it.
Blood trickled down her temple, her dark hair matted with it. Her green eyes were glazed over. She moved her blood-stained lips as she tried to speak.
“It’ll be okay.” Jason spoke softly as he made an attempt to pull on the door handle. It was no use. It was stuck. “It’ll be fine,” he lied. He moved as close to the window as he could.
“The…the…” Blood spat from her mouth as she tried to form the words.
“Don’t talk; just take it easy. Help will be here soon,” Jason said. He looked to the road. People had started to show up on this side too. He sat by her side as she struggled for breath. She would die soon. There was no way they could get to her soon enough.
“You’re one of us…” she finally said. Her voice was hardly a whisper. Jason nodded. “The kids… I can't…” she continued.
Jason turned his gaze to her. “Kids?” What kids?" He turned to look at the back of the car. The back doors were open.
There had been others, but they had gotten out. He stared intently toward the forest nearby. He narrowed his eyes.
“Where are the kids?” Jason said quietly. “Can you tell me?” He could hear the sirens of the paramedics. They would be here soon.
“The kids…are in the woods…” she said, taking a deep breath with each word. She stared forward through the broken windshield. Then, she tried to turn her head to look at him. She could barely move her head. She settled for just shifting her eyes.
“Find them…please…take care of them?”
There was a pleading tone to her voice. Her eyes glittered with tears. Jason clenched his jaw and nodded his promise to her. He gave a dying woman her final wish, though he did not know her name, or who she was.
Satisfied that she had made her last request known, she faced the front of the car again, eyes glassy, pupils fixed. Her chest stopped heaving with her labored breaths. She was dead.
“Damn it,” Jason cursed again. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. A voice shouted at him from the road. People were coming down the embankment. It was time to go.
He reached inside the vehicle and ceremoniously ran the palm of his hand over her eyes and closed them. “I’ll find them,” he whispered. Then, he started for the line of trees close to him. A blood trail was there for him to follow.
The forest was dense and dark, even in daylight. The voices of the onlookers began to fade as he continued, following the scent of blood and full-bloods farther into the darkness. The smell was strong. He was getting closer.
No sooner had he realized it than he saw two figures ahead of him. One figure was female. She was crouched close to the ground, her arm held close to the chest. Her back rested against the trunk of a massive tree. The other, a boy, stood next her. He stared straight at Jason. They both heard his footfalls and caught his scent before he saw them. The boy had a gun drawn in his shaking hand.
“Don’t move,” he yelled at Jason.
He complied by lifting his hands. “I don’t mean any harm. I just want to help.”
“Stay away from us!” the girl yelled out. She clutched her left arm. She looked pale and afraid. Dark hair spilled over her shoulder, bangs stuck out in all directions. They were both kids and couldn’t be anymore than sixteen at the most.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jason insisted, keeping his hands in the air. “I just want to help.”
“Why should I believe you?” the boy demanded. His eyes darted back and forth, between the girl and the intruder. He stepped back toward her, blocking her from Jason.
Jason took a deep breath. Although the boy probably had never fired a gun in his life, the werewolf remained wary of the weapon in the teen’s hand.
“Because I know why that SUV was after you. I know what they were. They were hunters.”
“We know,” he said. “They caused us to crash. They’ve been after us for days.” He narrowed his dark eyes at Jason. He eyed Jason suspiciously, never lowering the gun. “Are you one of them?”
“Do I smell like one of them?” he shot back at him. He took a step forward. It was a bad move.
The boy fired the gun, startled at the movement, and Jason was quick to duck to the ground. The girl let out a shout as Jason moved fast. He lunged forward and tackled the boy. His weight threw him back and caused him to drop the gun. The boy kicked and fought against Jason, clawing at him with his sharpened fingernails. Jason pinned him to the ground.
“Stop it! Stop it!” the girl screamed.
Tears streamed down her face, as Jason looked up. The boy growled in a feral tone and gnashed his teeth. His muscles tightened beneath Jason’s grip. Jason stared down as the boy bared his teeth. His eyes began to turn yellow. Jason knew he was trying to shift, but unsuccessfully.
“Do I fucking smell like one of them?” he repeated. “Answer me.” His voice was low. The boy tried to reach for his gun, but it was just out of arm’s reach. The girl continued to cry.
“No.” the boy choked out. Jason held him firmly and narrowed his eyes. The boy ceased to struggle. His chest heaved.
“I am not one of them. I’m one of you.” He stopped, listening carefully. The bystanders on the road were coming closer, drawn by the gunshots and screams. He shoved the boy back and climbed off him. “And we have to go.”
“We?” The boy stood and brushed the leaves from his pants. Mud covered the back of his jeans and shirt. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”
“Do you want to stay here with them?” He gestured toward the sounds and voices. “They may not be hunters, but they’ll find out what you are and that could be even worse. Like it or not, I am all you have right now.”
The girl shuddered, silently. She cradled her broken arm against her. “He’s right.” She sniffled. “We don’t have a choice.”
“Fuck,” the boy said. “Fine. We’ll go with you.” He swiped his gun from the ground. “But I’m keeping this just in case.”
“Fine,” Jason said coolly. “I can still take you down, pup.”
The boy sneered and turned. He helped
the girl up. She gripped him with her free hand and stood. The left side of her sweater was bloody and torn and mud stained her black pants. She stared at Jason.
“Can you walk okay?” he asked. “Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Then, run. This way.” He pointed in the direction. The girl hesitated a moment, then plunged into the thick forest. The boy followed a moment after, pausing long enough to glare at Jason.
Jason stared over his shoulder. Branches cracked as people headed toward them. He didn’t think about them and turned and followed the kids through the forest.
Now he really didn’t know what to do.
Chapter Thirteen
The van came to a stop outside the boarded up storefront. Davis looked out the passenger’s window and lifted an eyebrow.
“This is it?” He turned his head to catch the grin beginning on Glen’s face.
“Yeah.” He backed the van into the parking place near the front door. The parking lot was empty, save for them.
“It doesn’t look like much.”
“It’s not.” Glen’s smile faded. “But it’ll do.” He shifted the car into park and shut off the engine. Both of them stepped out. Davis lingered by the open door a moment. Glen slammed his and walked to the back of the van while Davis got a good look around.
It was midday and as warm as it would get. His breath came out in wisps of fog and he slammed the van door. His hands sought the warmth of his jacket’s pockets. Puddles of icy water filled the parking lot. Two other stores, on either sides of Glen’s place, were also empty and boarded up. Cars zoomed by lightning fast on the highway. He turned his attention to them and watched them idly for a moment, then followed Glen.
They walked in silence across the sidewalk to the front door. Glen produced a key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. He turned it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Fucking locks,” he said under his breath. He turned it again, roughly, and pushed on the door. It popped open, and it gave a loud creak as it revealed the darkness within. Glen stepped in first, hand searching for the light switch to give them some illumination. The room was suddenly filled with harsh fluorescent light. Davis winced slightly at the brightness.
He took a look at his surroundings. The front of the store was large and hardly furnished. There was the table, a couch in the corner with a small TV nearby. There were chairs and another table which was covered in empty pizza boxes and Chinese food cartons. The floor was concrete and it was colder inside than outside. The walls were bare and made simply of plywood.
“Sorry about the lack of heat. I’ll work with it, in a bit,” Glen apologized.
“No problem.” Davis only lifted his eyebrows. “Bachelor pad?”
“Not lately.” Glen answered. He looked glumly around and slightly shook his head. “No, my parents owned this place. They were going to fix it up and make it into a store. They wanted to sell books.” He gave a faint chuckle and then his face hardened. His eyes held a yellow gleam as he looked up at Davis finally. “It didn’t work out.”
Davis felt nervous suddenly, locked into Glen’s gaze, and he turned away. He let out a sigh. “Sorry, man.” He didn’t know what else to say.
“Why apologize? It’s not your fault. You weren’t there.” He approached the table. He sighed. “I’ll go back to the van in a bit to get the weapons.” His voice faded.
Davis watched him. His mouth felt dry. There was silence for a few moments longer before he sank into one of the chairs, reclining against the stiff back. He let out a breath.
“A lot of weres have died over the years, haven’t they?” he asked. The question sounded stupid. “At the hands of hunters?”
“Yes, but not always by hunters. Rose’s parents died in a legitimate car accident. The roads were icy that night. There were no signs of foul play. My parents were murdered though. That was hunter related.”
“I’m sorry,” Davis said again.
Glen didn’t reprimand him this time. Instead, Glen sighed and stared at the table.
“Jason is going to find himself in the same fix if he doesn’t start to think things through.” His nostrils flared a bit. They had both been shocked that Jason had abandoned them, stolen a car and went headlong into the search.
“He’ll end up dead before it’s all over,” Glen continued. “I can’t fucking believe he did that.” He calmed himself with a few deep breaths and looked over at Davis.
Davis lifted his hands in surrender. He had nothing to say on the matter.
“What? You don’t agree with me?” Glen asked. His tone was bitter and angry. Jason’s sudden departure had pushed his buttons. Davis tried to avoid pressing any more.
“I didn’t say that.” He hesitated a moment with his response. “I just think that maybe he’s got the right idea. You don’t know Simon like I do. He won’t wait much longer for anything once he has what he wants. He can’t afford to wait. Whatever Simon has planned, he’s probably already set in motion.”
Glen studied him a moment. A quizzical look came over his face as he thought it over. Davis let out a breath, thankful he hadn’t exploded at him.
“Well…” Glen said after a moment’s deliberation. “We have no choice but to stay here and wait for him, at least for a few days. He knows where this place is, and he knew we would be coming here. He won’t be able to find the place on his own.”
“How are we going to find it? We don’t stand a chance finding it either.”
“No, not just us, but I know someone who has been tracking some hunters on and off for the past year. He might know a few things.”
Davis brought his brows together and leaned forward a bit in his seat. “That Slater guy?”
“Yep. Him. You said the name sounded familiar. Do you know him?” Glen asked. He seemed calmer now that he had had his slight outburst. He pulled up one of the folding chairs and eased himself into it. He leaned forward, bringing his hands together in contemplation.
“I don’t think so. The name is familiar. I don’t know.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. I called him while we were back at the PRDI. He’s going to meet us here tomorrow and give us all the information he has. That’s one step forward.” Glen was silent a moment or so. He moved his hands up a bit, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. He sighed. “That’s tomorrow.”
He looked up at Davis and blinked a few times. “But there’s something we have to do tonight.”
“What’s that?” Davis didn’t like his tone. He felt nervous suddenly and edgy. He didn’t like how Glen looked at him and he knew whatever it was they had to do would involve him in some way or another.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about them. About Simon, and the other hunters. I need to do research on them.” He paused and stood. He reached behind him and produced a thick sheet of papers. They were covered in dried, brown blood. Davis felt sick all of a sudden. He knew where those papers had come from.
“The clean up crew took these from the safe house where it all happened, from the room where we found Mary Robbins. They gave them to me, thinking I could do something with them, but they are smeared and ruined. I’ll have to do her research all over again. And that’s why I need you to tell me everything.”
“Where do I start?” Davis tried to outlast the waves of nausea. He remembered the dead woman slumped bloody over the papers, and he remembered the woman he had killed, her grey eyes pleading. He took a deep breath and swallowed it hard.
“Who are the hunters? What are their names? What do they do? Where are they from? How did you get involved in it all? The list goes on and on…” Glen looked down at the ruined papers, folded them up in his hand. “But let’s not do it here. There’s a computer system in the back.”
He left the spacious room and walked down a narrow corridor. Davis stood up on shaking legs and tried to put the thoughts of the dead women out of his mind. He followed Glen as he opened the door at the end of the
hall. This room was smaller, even less furnished, but had a chair and a desk with an elaborate computer system hooked up. Glen took a few moments to turn the system on and it began humming as it booted up. Davis leaned against the door frame, watching him.
“What if I don’t know very much? What if I know nothing? My record speaks for itself.”
“You have to know something…names at the very least. We have to find out just who these people are, Simon especially.”
“Yeah…”
“So you’ll help me?” Glen sat in the chair, looking up at Davis.
He shrugged. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
Glen grinned once again. “No.”
Davis sighed, cornered. “Then yes, I’ll help you.”
“Good. I didn’t want to have to force the names out of you.”
“You didn’t mean that, right?” Davis chuckled a bit nervously.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Glen said. He seemed sincere. The computer had booted up and the system was ready. He accessed a database almost instantly. Davis stepped in farther to peer over his shoulder at what he was doing.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the screen.
Glen sat back so Davis had a better view. There was a list of names and addresses that were unfamiliar to him. “It’s the PRDI database. It’s the list of all those registered with the institute. I want to double check if any of the hunters are listed on here. I’ll start there, then do a broader search.”
“It would probably be best to start with Marcus.” Davis said as he scanned the names. They all blurred into one, and he stepped back to rub his eyes. “He’s the one who fucked everything up.”
“Marcus Brown.” Glen nodded in recognition of the name and unfolded the bloody papers again. He leafed through them, searching. “Here it is. ‘Marcus Brown, Detective’. Detective? He’s a real cop?”
“Was,” Davis said. He looked over to meet Glen’s confused stare. “He was a detective, but he left the force when his…ideas became too radical for the department he worked in.”
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