The waitress smiled. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Is it that obvious?” Lacey asked.
The waitress laughed and leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest. “Yeah, it is. This isn’t a good part of town and you shouldn’t be here. And if you were from Carol Springs, you would know that.” She held her hand out, “I’m Cindy and you are?”
Lacey gave her a small smile and shook her hand. “I’m Lacey.”
“Do you have somewhere to stay, Lacey?”
She looked away for a second, embarrassed by the fact that she was technically homeless. She was trying to think of something to say when Cindy touched her arm. “Why don’t you come home with me...I have a small house on the other side of town, it’s not much but you’re welcome to stay the night if you need a place to sleep.”
Lacey considered her offer. The thought of having a roof over her head and a nice, safe place to sleep was too good to pass up. “Thank you” she whispered and followed Cindy out the backdoor of the restaurant.
*****
Cole paced the floor of one of his many hideouts, an old rundown building that used to be the town hardware store. When he first came to Carol Springs five years ago he loved the fact that an entire section of the town was nothing but abandoned buildings. It was the perfect place for him and his pack.
The front door creaked open and Kevin walked in.
“Where is the girl?” Cole asked angrily.
Kevin looked away for a second, ashamed that he had failed. “I lost her...one minute she was in her room and the next she was out the window. I tried to track her down but I lost her scent when she crossed Tanner Street. The smells from the restaurants covered hers.”
Cole shook his head and growled. “I can’t believe you let a human girl outsmart you. I thought you were better than that.”
Kevin flinched at the anger in Cole’s voice. He had never yelled at him before. Since he was his second in command, Cole had always treated him with respect and now he was yelling at him like he was a newbie. “It’s not my fault. She can’t be human. You saw what she did in the alley. Humans can’t do that.”
Cole turned his back to Kevin and walked away. “She’s human...trust me. I got close enough to smell her blood. There was something a little off about it, but she is human.” He walked over to one of the many mattresses that were spread out across the floor and kicked one of the feet hanging off of it. “Get your lazy ass up” he growled.
Zack looked up and saw Cole standing over him with an angry expression. “What did I do?” he asked in a sleepy voice.
“I want you to help Kevin find the girl, since apparently he can’t do it on his own.” Cole looked over his shoulder at Kevin and shook his head in disgust.
Kevin stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He had always looked up to Cole and considered him a friend and to have him berate him in front of a newbie was embarrassing.
Zack jumped up with a big smile on his face. This was his chance to get on Cole’s good side and earn his trust. Kevin had obviously screwed things up by losing the girl and if he could find her then Cole would probably give him a higher position in the pack and he’d be one step closer to his goal of taking over the pack completely. “You can count on me, boss. One way or another, I’ll find the girl.”
Cole stood in front of him. “If you harm her, you’ll have to answer to me, understand? She’s no good to me dead.”
Zack smiled and grabbed his jacket and shoes from the floor by the mattress. “You can trust me, boss” he said and walked out. Once outside, he found Kevin leaning against the building. He walked over to him and laughed. “Damn Kevin, you really screwed up. I’ve never seen Cole so angry with you.”
Kevin grabbed Zack by the throat and threw him against the building. “Don’t forget your place here, newbie. You’re a human that we changed and I’m a born werewolf. We’re not even in the same league. You’re still on the expendable list around here and you better remember that. Don’t make me shorten that list by killing your useless ass.”
Zack shrugged off the threat. He might not have been born a werewolf but he was still just as strong as Kevin or any other werewolf and he wasn’t about to let anyone get the upper hand on him...ever.
*****
“So how long have you been in town?” Cindy asked as she covered her couch with blankets for Lacey to sleep on.
Lacey finished the last bite of pepperoni pizza she was eating and took a swallow of soda before answering. “I just got here today.”
Cindy raised her brows questioningly. “You must have had one hell-of-a-day to have looked the way you did when you opened the bathroom door at the restaurant. I swear I thought you were about to fall to pieces in front of me.”
Lacey smiled thinly. “It was a day I don’t ever want to relive, that’s for sure.”
Cindy finished with the blankets and sat down beside Lacey on the floor in front of the small coffee table in the middle of her livingroom. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really” Lacey said and gave her an apologetic look.
“Okay, I can understand that, but you have to understand I’m not in the habit of bringing strangers home with me so I think we should get to know each other a little better. I’ll start by telling you a little about myself.” Cindy smiled. “I’m twenty two years old and I’ve lived here for almost three years. I foolishly thought that by moving to a big city like Carol Springs my chances of being discovered as the next pop star would increase. Ha, was I delusional or what? Anyway, that didn’t pan out and I’ve been working at the pizza parlor for over a year. I hate my job, I don’t like cats and I don’t have a boyfriend because men are way too needy.” She stopped to take a breath and then pointed to Lacey. “Your turn.”
Lacey smiled. She liked Cindy and thought she was definitely someone she could be friends with. She just hoped that she could trust her. “Well,” she started then paused, “I’ll be eighteen in three weeks. I’ve been on my own for one day and I’ve already gotten myself into more trouble than I’ve been in my whole life. I’m so close to a nervous breakdown that I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up in a mental institute by the end of the week.”
Cindy laughed at Lacey’s weak attempt of a joke. “So you’re a runaway, huh? I had a feeling that you were. Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn you in. I’m sure you have your reasons for leaving and they’re none of my business. When I first left home, I had some issues too and I sure as hell didn’t want anyone asking me questions. Besides, like you said, you’ll be eighteen in a few weeks. So as long as you promise me that you’re not into drugs or anything else illegal, you can stay here for a little while until you find another place to stay.”
Before Lacey could stop herself, she leaned over and hugged Cindy. Hugging wasn’t something that she was used to doing but she was so happy and relieved to have a place to stay that she couldn’t help herself. The weight that had been pushing down on her shoulders suddenly lifted. “Thank you so much, Cindy. I’ll get a job as soon as I can and pay you rent.”
Cindy laughed. “Worry about actually finding a job first. It isn’t as easy as you think. I hope you don’t think I’m working in ‘the hole’ because I want to.”
Lacey gave her a confused look. “I thought the pizza parlor was called Raymonds.”
“It is, but the east part of Carol Springs is called the hole because people have a tendency to disappear around there. It’s a bad part of town that most people avoid. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw you walk through the door? I knew instantly that you were new in town or else you wouldn’t have been there.”
“I guess there’s a lot I need to learn about this town, huh?” Lacey said with a yawn.
“Yeah, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know, but right now I think you should get some sleep. You look exhausted.” Cindy got up and walked over to her bedroom door. “I’m off work tomorrow so I’ll proba
bly sleep late, you can help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen and the bathroom is down the hall to the left.”
Lacey thanked her again and laid down on the couch. It felt so good to finally be able to relax. She was just about to fall asleep when an image of the man in the alley popped into her head. Cole...she thought she heard one of the other men call him. She couldn’t get his face out of her mind, the way his cold, angry green eyes stared at her. Why did he attack her? Why did he call her a human woman and not just a woman? And why wasn’t he afraid when she used her powers against him?
She knew it was crazy to be thinking about him, especially after one of his men followed her to the hospital but she couldn’t help but think that she was going to run into him again. The way he looked at her right before she threw him backwards in the alley, she saw it in his eyes. He had the same look that the doctor’s in the psychiatric hospital had, her powers interested him. Lacey took a deep breath and forced everything from her mind and drifted off into a deep sleep.
*****
It was almost noon when Lacey finally woke up the next day. She tiptoed over to Cindy’s room and peeked inside, she was still asleep.
Lacey’s stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten enough of the pizza last night to really fill her up. She rummaged through the refrigerator and cabinets in the kitchen but didn’t find anything that even resembled breakfast food. The fridge was full of take-out boxes from several different restaurants and the cabinets were bare except for a couple cans of vegetables that were covered in dust. It was obvious that Cindy wasn’t much of a cook.
Not finding anything that she wanted to eat, Lacey grabbed her backpack from the floor by the couch and pulled out her wallet to make sure the hundred dollars that Jerry had given her was still there. She smiled when she saw it and put it back in her backpack then grabbed a pen and sheet of paper from the desk by the front door. She scribbled a note to Cindy, telling her that she was going for a walk to the store to get some eggs and bacon and that she would be back later. She left the note on the coffee table and quietly left, easing the front door shut behind her.
Lacey stepped out onto the porch and held her hand up to shield her eyes from the bright sun. It was a beautiful day and she had every intention of putting what happened the night before behind her and enjoying her new beginning. She walked down the sidewalk in front of Cindy’s house toward the shopping center they had passed on the way home last night. She was glad that Cindy lived so close to the center of town. She could walk everywhere she needed to go if Cindy couldn’t give her a ride.
Lacey took in the sights of the neighborhood as she walked. It was such a nice, peaceful place, so much different from the part of town she had been in last night. Both sides of the street were lined with small quaint houses with children playing in the front yards and dogs laying lazily on the lawns, soaking in the sun. She smiled at how normal everything looked. Finally, she had found a place where she could be happy.
Almost an hour later, Lacey stopped outside a small clothing store. She looked in the window at the jeans and tee shirts on the rack, then down at what she was wearing. Cindy had loaned her a pair of jeans and a pink tee shirt but pink was definitely not her color. Without a second thought, she opened the door to the store and went inside. Now that she had a place to stay, she could afford to spend some money on a few new tee shirts and a pair of jeans.
*****
Kevin and Zack stopped on the sidewalk in front of Cindy’s house. Zack sniffed the air. “She’s here.”
Kevin walked up the steps to the house. Tracking Lacey down hadn’t been easy but when he went back to where he had lost her last night and caught a faint scent, he followed it and it led him to the pizza parlor. Once inside, her scent mixed with someone else’s. And after a lot of talking and eventually a beating, he finally got some information out of the manager. He gave Kevin the name and address of one of the waitresses that he saw talking with the girl. And now he was standing outside, ready to take her to Cole so he could redeem himself for losing her in the first place.
Kevin reached for the door handle and turned it. It was locked. He nodded to Zack, signaling him to go around back. He looked over his shoulder at the men across the street washing a car and at the kids playing in the front yard a few houses down. He was going to have to be careful not to let anyone see anything that they shouldn’t. He knocked on the door and waited. A few minutes later, the door opened and Cindy stood in front of him wrapped in a pink robe.
“Yes, can I help you?” she asked.
Kevin let his eyes roam over her appreciatively. “I’m looking for a friend of mine and I think she’s staying here.”
Cindy narrowed her eyes at him. “Really? What’s your friend’s name?”
Kevin ignored her question. “She’s about your height with black hair, fair skin...”
“What’s her name?” Cindy asked, cutting him off. If he didn’t even know Lacey’s name then there was no way in hell he was a friend and Cindy wasn’t going to tell him anything.
Kevin clenched his jaw and balled his fists at his side. He looked over Cindy’s shoulder and smiled. She turned around and found Zack standing behind her. She opened her mouth to scream but he clamped his hand over her mouth and pulled her back away from the door.
Kevin casually stepped inside and closed the door. He turned around and glared at Cindy. “Where is the girl?”
Tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her face as she shook her head. Zack lowered his head next to her ear and whispered, “If you scream, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
Cindy nodded and Zack moved his hand away so that she could speak. She wiped at her eyes with a shaky hand as her eyes darted from Zack to Kevin. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
Kevin cocked his head to the side, popping his neck. Then he grabbed Cindy by the arm and yanked her to him. “Don’t play games with me, woman. I know you brought a girl home from work with you last night, now tell me where she is.”
Cindy quickly considered her options. She didn’t want to tell them anything about Lacey but at the same time, she didn’t want to get herself hurt either. In the end, she had no choice but to put her own safety first. She closed her eyes as tears slid down her cheek. “I don’t know where Lacey went. I just woke up when I heard you knocking on the door. I haven’t seen her since last night.”
Kevin pierced her with a look that sent chills down her spine. He looked past Cindy to Zack, “search the house” he said.
“Who are you and why do you want Lacey?” Cindy asked in a trembling voice as Zack stormed through her house.
“Lacey? So that’s the girl’s name” Kevin said and walked over to the couch. He picked up one of the blankets and held it to his nose and sniffed.
Cindy watched him and inched closer to the front door. She glanced over her shoulder to see where Zack was but he was in one of the other rooms. She turned her attention back to Kevin, he wasn’t looking at her so she made the decision to try and make a run for it. She lunged for the door but faster than she thought possible, Kevin grabbed her from behind and threw her to the floor. “Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
Cindy looked up at him terrified. “Please, let me go. I’ve already told you that I don’t know where Lacey is.”
Zack came back into the room with a grim look on his face. “She’s not here.”
Kevin grabbed Cindy by the arm and yanked her to her feet. He stared at her with cold, angry eyes. “Tell me everything that you know about her and don’t leave anything out. Your life depends on it” he growled.
Cindy nodded her head frantically. “She’s a runaway. I met her last night and offered to let her stay here with me. She must have gotten into some kind of trouble yesterday because she was really freaked out and didn’t want to talk to me about it.” She sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “I swear that’s all I know about her.”
Zack came up behind Cindy and wrapped his hand
in her hair. He sniffed it, inhaling deeply then he let out a deep breath before smiling at Kevin. “I think she’s telling us the truth, don’t you?”
Kevin ignored him and walked around the room. He stopped at the coffee table when he saw a piece of paper on it. He picked it up and read it, then smiled. “It seems Lacey left you a note...Cindy.” He looked over at her. “The name suits you.”
Zack wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rubbed his face against her hair. Cindy wanted to tell him to leave her alone but she was too afraid to say anything.
“Can I keep her?” Zack asked and continued rubbing his head against Cindy’s, like lovers would do.
“No!” Kevin yelled.
“Why not? We change people all the time. I think she would be a nice addition to the pack.”
Kevin growled and pulled Cindy away from him. She looked back and forth between the two, confusion showing on her face. She had no idea what they were talking about and she didn’t want to find out.
A few tense seconds passed between the men as they glared at the other. But then Zack backed down and walked away. “Fine, let’s just kill her and get the hell out of here.”
Cindy’s head snapped in his direction. Fear erupted inside her. “What!...no...no...please, I told you what you wanted to know. Don’t hurt me” she begged.
Kevin held up the note that Lacey had left. He hated it when humans begged for their lives. It made them look even weaker and more pitiful than they already were. “Once the girl comes back, we’ll leave and you can go on about your day” he lied. The safer Cindy thought she was, the less likely she would try to escape again.
Cindy sat down on the couch and folded her shaky hands in her lap. She didn’t believe for one second that they were going to let her live, especially not after they plan on taking Lacey with them. She looked at the men. Kevin was standing by the front door, peeking out the closed curtain and Zack was sitting on the arm of the couch, watching her. She knew without a doubt that they were going to kill her and probably Lacey too. She thought about how she could escape and came up with nothing.
There was no way out except for the front and back doors and she knew she couldn’t make it to either one of them without getting caught. She was going to die and there wasn’t anything she could do to save herself. That thought made her mad. She had always been a fighter. She’d survived living on her own in a big city for years. She had fought off drunks who showed up at her job late at night with touchy feely hands, drug dealers who tried to make her work for them and sell drugs when she first came to town, and she had struggled month after month with shady landlords of cheap apartments until she was finally able to afford rent on the nice house she now lived in. And now she was going to die. She wasn’t ready to give up and she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
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