by NB Blackbell
"Please wait to hear from me. I'm working on a plan. Hopefully, it won't be too long."
John took a deep breath and laid the phone on the table next to him. He knew in his heart what needed to be done, but this was a massive move and a lot to ask of his men. Leaving Faith to sleep, John headed to the shower. He would gather the group later that day and form a plan to end this situation. Then, perhaps, they could all go back to living life as they once knew it.
Jasper stood gazing out the window. The sun was up, and the sky appeared so tranquil. How deceiving, she thought while she turned and headed to the door and out towards the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, she noticed Beth was already there. "Good morning, Beth, any coffee on?" Beth smiled. "Sure is. We must think alike." She laughed as she took a drink from her mug. Jasper poured herself a cup. "Anyone else up?" Beth shook her head no. "I don't think so, or at least I haven't noticed anyone." Both girls grabbed a chair at the table. Jasper reached up and rubbed her neck. She felt a little stiff from tossing and turning all night. "I heard there's a meeting today. Have you heard anything about it?" Beth laid her cup on the table. "No, I see the head guys whispering, though. Faith says they're just trying to figure things out, using each other as a sounding board. I can understand that there's no need to worry anyone any more than they already are. I've been keeping busy with a few others, keeping this place clean. I can't think right in a dirty place. At least that's what my mama used to tell me, and she was usually right. Jasper laughed, "Aren't they all?"
John stepped into the kitchen. “Good morning, girls." Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he glanced over at Jasper. I need you to go through and make sure we have ID's on all the photos we have received off the video feed. I want to know each and every shifter out there and who we need to deal with." Jasper nodded, "Sure thing. I'll get to that right away. Have we come up with a plan to fix the whole situation?" John smirked to himself, "I sure hope so, but it's like anything else, it involves strategy, and, without the pictures, we have nowhere to turn. Oh, and let Buddy out of that small room, will you? Others are letting their pups run around the hotel. I don't see any reason for him to be locked up." Jasper smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. The poor little guy needs to run around and play." Finishing up her cup of coffee, she laid the mug on the table. "Okay. Well, I'm going to let Buddy out of the room and head to the monitoring station to get the photos required. I'll talk to both of you later." Jasper quickly walked out the door.
Jasper cleaned up the room and fed the pets. "You want to go have some fun today, Boy?" Buddy wagged his tail and licked Jasper's face. Opening the door, they walked down the hall. Buddy ran ahead, then raced back to her. He jumped and wiggled as they headed down to the board room. The cat sleeked down the hall like a black ninja, as if he were hunting. Stepping into the room she went and pulled out a chair, Jasper sat staring at the video monitors. Nookers rubbed against her legs before jumping up on the windowsill. She thought about everything that had happened and then about Isabel. Where was she and was she okay? Her eyes filled with tears. Overwhelmed by helplessness, she began gathering pictures of the shapeshifters. She hoped that whatever the plan was, it would be done quickly and that Isabel would be found. In the end, if she wasn't, she would know she tried. Buddy was racing up and down the foyer with other pets left roaming. Jasper giggled to herself. It was nice to hear the jaunty sounds of those so innocent. Moments later, Larzo ran up the hall. Poking his head in, he sought, "Have you seen John?" Jasper turned.
"I last saw him in the kitchen, having coffee. Is everything okay?" Larzo took a breath. "No, worse than it was. Now that you pointed it out, it's kind of hard to miss those things." Turning to head out the door, his body shivered as he murmured, "It gives me the heebie-jeebies." Taking a deep breath, Jasper turned around to finish what she had initiated. She wondered if this would be over soon. Her thoughts turned to daydreams of wandering through the park, with squirrels racing up the trees and Buddy barking and having fun on a lovely sunny day. She longed for those days again.
Jake entered the board room carrying a cup of coffee. "Brought you a coffee. I even remembered your cream and sugar." Jasper swung around. Oh Wow! Thanks. You must have known I needed one." Jake sat next to her. "I wanted to do something nice for you. I feel we're safe because of you. We could all be sitting out there clueless and have a huge target sign painted on our foreheads." Jasper turned to Jake. "Yeah, but now we're sitting in a hotel doing nothing to stop it. We quit living. Something needs to happen. I want my life back.
What about you? Don't you miss it?" Jake chuckled to himself. "I feel as if I took life for granted before. I should have taken advantage of the small things like smelling the roses or having that morning coffee… somewhere relaxing long before I hit the office. Now our life has changed, and I miss the little things, along with the obvious." Jake reached over and opened the window, "I miss Isabel. I just can't help thinking this is my fault. I shouldn't have let her go, it should have been me." Jasper frowned," Do you think they would have left the desk long enough to help you, I don't. Besides Isabel is stubborn, she would have insisted on going, it isn't your fault." Jake nodded, "Best let some air in; it's a beautiful day out there." Pushing his chair away from the table, Jake jumped up and headed towards the door. "I need to go find John. I'll talk to you later." Jasper smiled and turned back to the monitors. She had the pictures all together for John, but it was necessary to still watch and make sure they didn't spot any more shifters out there. Scanning each and every monitor, Jasper thought to herself, How do we get our life back? Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, she headed to her room, but first stopped briefly to drop the pictures off to John.
Larzo darted throughout the base, letting everybody know about the meeting that John set up. People started filling up the board room, chitter-chattering about what it may be about. Jake scurried over to where Jasper sat. "This is it, Jasper. I think John has come up with a plan to take us home." Sitting next to her and smiling, he added, "Perhaps by next week, you will be walking through the park with Buddy." Jasper had a grave look on her face, as if in deep thought. 'Or possibly next week, we will all be missing or worse yet, dead,' she thought. Looking up at Jake, she replied, "Sorry, I'm having a brief moment of doubt. One minute I see us home and living a normal life, but the next minute, I start feeling like life will never be the same… that we are missing something. What can we be missing? I have sat there watching them, and I guarantee you, we're not getting all the information we need." Jake patted her knee. "You may be right, but I'm sure John has hatched a plan that will get us all home." Jasper smiled, "You're so full of hope. Maybe you should direct your belief a little higher." John walked into the room. Heads started to rise, and the gossip got silent. Jasper sat up straight, desperate to find out what this meeting was all about.
"Evening, folks; so glad all of you could join me here tonight. We have a lot to discuss at tonight's meeting. I have come up with a plan that will hopefully not only get each one of us home but will make this city safe once again. Everyone here has been a huge help in keeping things in order, and I thank each one of you for that. We've been observing the government for a long time, and we knew something was up but didn't know exactly what. Lately, we've learned a lot more. We now know we cannot trust the government nor the police anymore. We have proof that the shapeshifters have been running this city. How long have they been in charge? I can’t tell you that, but we need to put an end to it no matter what. I won't ask anything from you that I'm not demanding of myself, but it's time to put an end to this situation. Who agrees with me?" Everyone in the room cheered and clapped. John took a deep breath as he continued telling them all of his plans. "I've gone over everything that we know and replayed everything that we saw, over and over in my head. The only thing I can come up with is that there has to be an elimination. We need to assassinate these creatures, in hopes that this will put an end to the murders taking place. When they are gone, maybe then we can take contr
ol and start looking for the missing people. The only way to get our life back is to take it back."
Mark raised his hand. "So, what are we going to do, just walk up to them and shoot them?" John raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, but with a bit of skill. Do you have a better idea?" Mark shook his head no, "Not really," he said. "I just wanted to be clear on the plan." The room started to buzz with whispers. "Quiet!" John shouted. "This is quite serious. If you cannot handle it, please exit the room." The room got sober. "I don't like it any more than you do, but I will be the first to say I want my life back, and I will commit to this." A hand darted up in the back of the room. "What about the consequences? "Won't we go to jail?" John drew a deep breath. "I'm not sure what will happen. All I know is the police haven't been investigating any of the murders that have taken place since they have been mass murders. Perhaps if we make it look like it was done the same way, they won't investigate. My concern, though, is what if we don't do anything, and we proceed to let others die or go missing? It's our right to fight for our country. Did Isabel go missing for nothing? Shouldn't it be for a reason, at least? If it came down to it, and I had to go to jail for shooting the shifters, I would at least know I tried to save this city and get our lives back to what it was." Faith yelled, "And I would be damn proud of you, Honey!" John shook his head with a little snicker. "No one can be sure of anything at this point, except that they are among us. This and that murders are transpiring all around us. No one is safe anymore. Do we know if they are dangerous? No, but it can't be good if they're hiding among us. Can it?"
Marcy raised her hand. "What about those of us who have never held a gun before?" John crossed his arms. "Well, we have a little over a dozen of them, and there are a lot more of us. I think we'll have enough experienced shooters, and those of you who don't have experience won't have to worry for the moment. I can't promise this will all turn out as planned, but it's the only thought I have towards solving this problem." Jasper leaned over and whispered to Jake, "What if they don't die?" Jake looked at her and consoled her. "Why wouldn't they?" She glanced away quickly. "I don't know. Just what if? It's just a feeling." John looked over at her. "Jasper, will you and Faith please hang up the pictures?" The two girls got up and headed to the board in the front of the room, and as they put them up, John continued his talk. "My fingers are crossed, Folks. If this works, we'll get to go home, hopefully. An eliminated shifter is not a risk, at least not in my mind." He let out a loud laugh. "I need to send a text. I'll let this sink in while they finish setting up."
John leaned against the window. The breeze from outside hit him directly in the face. His eyes shut as he thought to himself. If only I were out walking in that, or even better, riding my bike. This is all worth it! He opened his eyes and started to write a text to all the other group leaders: "We are working on an assassination plan. It must be performed all at once, so no one gets wind of it. It's our city or our lives. I choose us. Let me know your plan!" He tucked his phone away into his pocket and stared out at the pack with a stern expression upon his face. He knew he couldn't let them down. He walked over to the centre of the room, and after checking out the board, he turned to the crowd. These are the faces of the shifters. I need twenty-five volunteers. The rest of you will be excused and will only be brought back into this if we have a specific job for you. Until then, you will go back to your regular duties. Any volunteers out there?" Hands started popping up throughout the room. Jasper's and Jake's hands were among them. John smiled and said, "I am proud of you all and am happy to see we all stand together in this. I need the volunteers to stay, and the rest of you are excused."
After the room quieted down, they all moved towards the front of the room. John stood there, looking at the pictures. Jasper piped up, "So, what next?" He turned to look at her. "Well, we need to figure out the best way to go about this. Do we follow them individually, or do we find out where they all meet? I mean, if we do this, it has to be done right the first time. There is no second chance! Who all owns a gun here?" A few hands shot up. Billy, one of John's men, shouted, "I have a few!" The whole room chuckled. Those who knew Billy also knew he loved his collection of guns. John cleared his throat, "Sounds great! Billy, we can definitely use them. Can you get them here as soon as possible?" Billy nodded. "The rest of you, if you have guns, please bring them here too. We'll do a weapon count tomorrow evening. The next thing we need to figure out is how do we get as many as we can into one spot. It would be easier that way, I think. Then it can be done at a certain time altogether. Although I'm not sure if they ever get together." John glanced over at Jasper. "When you were monitoring them, did you ever see them all together?" Jasper stood up and walked towards the board. She stood looking at the photos. "Well, they mostly seem to pair up. They have to meet up somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure. Perhaps I should monitor them a bit more and see if I notice a pattern. Plus, if we put a tag on them, we are more likely to find out just in case it happens somewhere without a camera." John nodded, "That's a great idea. So, over the next few days, you keep an eye on the monitors. I'll assign a few people to help you out, and Larzo, you get a few people together who can tag these creatures. Together, let's find out where they all go. Before we end this meeting today, please team up with someone. We all need someone to watch our back."
Jasper walked over to Jake and laid her hand on his shoulder. "You're with me, right?" Jake smiled, "Wouldn't have it any other way." Looking up at John, Jake said, "I'll start monitoring as soon as I hit up the coffee machine." John laughed. "All right, group dismissed. We'll meet back here in a couple days.
Meanwhile, I want to see the guns tomorrow." As the room emptied, John tapped Jake on the back and said, "You know, some of them might need you afterwards. Some won't be able to shake it off, no matter what." Jake nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Affirmations are important. Remember to use them as you speak to them about all of this. It's for the greater good. We're saving lives and putting an end to innocent murders by doing this. This will help it absorb some without damaging them too badly. As for the guilt, I can try to help with that afterwards." Patting Jake on the back, John headed out the door and towards his room.
Jake headed towards the kitchen, figuring he would grab some coffee and help Jasper for a bit. He thought about the last time he saw Isabel in the kitchen, the way she was humming to herself, swaying to the tune in her head. Jake loved that about her. They had to find her, how would he go on without her? As Jake entered the kitchen, he noticed a mark on the back of Jasper's neck. "What is that?" he asked as he walked up to her. Lifting the edge of her hair, he saw a faded tattoo. "When did you get a tattoo?" Jasper looked puzzled. "I've never had a tattoo. You must be mistaken." Jake let go of her hair and looked her in the face. "No, I'm not mistaken. There's a faded tattoo on the bottom of your hairline. I've seen you plenty of times with your hair up, and not once did I ever see this."
Rubbing the back of her neck, Jasper asked, "Can you take a picture of it so I can see it?" Jake pulled out his cell phone and took a snapshot. "See, it almost looks like the symbol you drew in your sketchbook." Jasper's puzzled look worsened. "I don't know how that got there seriously, Jake. Please don't mention this to anyone until we figure it out. Okay?" Jake stood back and looked at her, "You have my word. This is between us." He giggled softly, "More mysteries to solve. I just need a mystery machine." Jasper shook her head. "Really, Jake? A Scooby-Doo reference! You big goof!" She reached over and grabbed the coffee, then accidentally brushed her head on his shoulder as she walked by him. Jake took a cup and poured some coffee. "I'm coming to help you. Just give me a moment."
The two sat monitoring the video set for a bit, sipping their coffee. Both were quiet. It was kind of nice to just sit and enjoy the silence. Jasper leaned over and whispered, "I never shot a gun before." Jake glanced at Jasper quickly, trying not to take his eyes away from the monitor. "It's easy. Just aim and pull the trigger. Just don't aim my way." Jasper's eyes widened as she thought to herself, Oh my
god! What if I shoot someone else by accident? Jake saw the look on her face change from concern to fear and quickly replied, "Chill. You have nothing to worry about. I was just kidding with you, trying to make you laugh. On a more serious note, I'm worried about something. We've watched all these shifters for a while now. There's a pattern to most of this, but what about the one with my face?" Jasper gasped, "You're right. What if it is different at the time, and we shoot the wrong person?" Jake frowned, I keep telling myself that unless they find out, we are on to them how are they going to know? We have to trust our instincts and trust that we have the right one. Do you know what I mean?" Jasper laid her head on his shoulder. "I do know what you mean. This is exhausting, my mind just can't take much more right about now. I keep asking myself what Isabel would do. Well, she would tell me to get off my ass and keep going. So, I just keep chugging along, hoping it ends soon." Glancing up at the window, the two noticed Nookers slinking across the window sill. "Wouldn't it be nice not to have a care in the world?" laughed Jake. Looking up, she laughed. "He doesn't care about much, just his dinner and whether he has a good place to lay and nap for a bit. Buddy, on the other hand, needs constant attention. He's upstairs with Marcy. Lately, she's been playing with him while I work. I'm so thankful for that. He doesn't need to be affected by all of this. It's bad enough he doesn't get to go to the park anymore. Have you spoken to John about the one shifter and your worries?" Jake shook his head no. "Not yet, but I will tomorrow. I want to sleep on it tonight and see if I can come up with anything. Possibly with a fresh mind, it will look simpler."
After Jasper and Jake had spent a few hours watching the video feed, Larzo entered the room with a couple of women. "Hey, Guys. I have some replacements for you. They've agreed to do overnight and let you get some sleep." Jasper smiled, "Thanks. I'm in desperate need of some sleep." They both jumped up. Jake grabbed Nookers and the two-headed towards their room. Jasper yawned and said, "I'm going to grab Buddy. Can you drop Nookers off to my room?" Jake nodded, "Yup. I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early. Just think, perhaps, we'll be home soon, and this nightmare will be over." Jasper smiled and headed down the hall towards Marcy's room to get her puppy, then back to her room where they could relax and get some well-deserved sleep.