by Alex Anders
As a wolf, Saki‘s sense of smell had increased tenfold. She had never imagined that the world was rich with so many scents. Everyone had a scent. They weren’t necessarily bad, but they weren’t all good, either. Blood, she had found, was the richest scent of all. Everything that seeped through a person’s pores was magnified in his blood. Saki still didn’t understand why the boys were so drawn to her scent, but the scent of her blood had made her attraction inescapable.
Saki continued to stare at the horizon as darkness fell. The large field lights were already on, as the ocean slowly turned a midnight blue. Just as a familiar scent entered her consciousness, she turned around to an unexpected site.
Dax‘s pack, the boys from her homeroom, were all standing in front of her. Saki scrambled to her feet and stared back at them. The tall thin boy with the turned-up nose spoke.
“Dax says that you’re now a part of our pack.”
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“I’m Gully.” He turned and pointed to the boys behind him, all of whom she recognized from their homeroom. “That’s Patrick, Mark, and Frank.”
“Hi,” Saki acknowledged to a few weak “hellos” in reply.
Saki wasn’t sure if they knew who she was before today, but she certainly knew them. These wolves had tried to kill her and Lane‘s pack. Patrick had blondish brown hair and was the quietest; he was also the best looking. Mark was the obnoxious one with a thick Bahamian accent, awkward body, and a mullet. Frank was the small one with the deep tan.
“You want to hang with us?”
Saki looked at them again. She didn’t want to hang with them, but it was the best way to gain Dax’s trust. She knew that they would report everything she did back to him, and with Marnie delivering the message, hanging with them would be a great alibi.
“Sure,” she said, stepping toward the group.
With Saki and Gully leading them toward the bars, Gully began asking questions.
“So, where you from?”
“Here,” Saki replied.
“I thought you went to school in the states?”
“I did. In North Carolina.”
Gully smiled. “How is that? I bet that was really weird.”
“In the beginning, I guess. But you get used to it.”
“Did you miss here?”
“Sometimes,” Saki answered honestly. “But I didn’t always like it here, either.”
“Which elementary school did you go to?”
“Kingsway. What about you?”
“Lyford Cay Primary.”
Saki had never met anyone who had gone to that school before. Lyford Cay was the expensive part of the island, where all of the famous and rich people lived when they bought a house in the Bahamas.
“Why did you change to SAC?” Saki asked about the school they both now attended.
“Because my parents didn’t want me attending St. Andrew’s. They thought I would get a better education at SAC.”
“When you started going to SAC, did you think it was weird?” Saki asked devilishly.
Gully looked at her with a smirk. “Yeah, a little at first, I guess. But you get used to it.”
They both looked at each other, then burst out laughing. That moment broke the ice between them.
Saki was surprised to learn that Gully wasn’t such a bad guy after all. They had all tried to kill her and Lane, but maybe they weren’t the monsters that she had believed them to be.
“Listen, it’s getting late. My mom said she’d kill me if I stay out long.”
“That’s cool. Do you want a ride back home?”
Saki looked at Gully, trying to determine his true intent. Staring into his eyes, all she found was a willingness to drop her at home.
“No, that’s okay. I just live up there,” she said pointing up the hill toward her home.
“Okay, that’s cool. Then we’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you at school.”
The other boys just waved as Saki broke away from the pack. Stepping into the darkness, she felt surprised by her interaction with Dax‘s crew. They weren’t what she was expecting. At least Gully wasn’t. She didn’t get a very clear impression of the others.
As she thought about it, she got the same impression of Gully that she had gotten of Dax when they had first met. Dax didn’t come across to her has this stuck-up hot guy. He had depth and dimensions. Dax was a full person.
Although this was just her first impression, it felt like Gully was a full person, as well. Saki found it hard to immediately dislike Gully. Even more so than Dax, Gully had a vulnerability that seemed to invite her in. Her impression of him wasn’t enough for Saki to abandon her plan, but it did make her pause.
When Saki entered her house, everyone else was at the dinner table eating. Without a word Saki joined them and dished up her food, giving Marnie only a brief glance. Everyone was quiet, and she got the impression they hadn’t been quiet a moment before. She felt something coming, and she buried her head in the food as it approached.
“You know,” her mother began, “I’ve been cutting you some slack because of everything that’s been going on. I know you’ve been having a hard time adjusting, and you have friends that may or may not be good for you. But as long as you live in this house, you will respect the rules. Don’t come strolling in here and dish up food like you own the place. You didn’t buy it, you didn’t cook it, so don’t act like you did. Do you understand what I’m sayin’?”
Saki could have gotten away with saying anything. She wasn’t the same girl that she was a few months ago, and her mother knew it. The dynamic between them had changed, and Saki had the power to ensure that things would never go back to the way they were.
Right now, though, she felt off-kilter from her interaction with Gully. She was so sure of her new world when she had left the house, but now things didn’t seem quite as clear. With her world slowly shifting beneath her feet, she chose not to make this one of tonight’s battles. “Yes ma’am,” she said, hoping the conversation would end.
Her mother remained silent as if speechless. The truth was that her mother was expecting more of a fight from Saki. Their power struggle had been the norm for years. Saki giving in so readily unnerved her mother more than anything else Saki could have done. Though her mother had won the battle on the surface, she was smart enough to know that Saki’s tone said she’d already won the war. Her mother had no response to that assertiveness.
Once Maddie and their mother went to bed, Saki turned to Marnie to find out Lane‘s response. The entire night Marnie had looked like she was holding back a secret, and it was killing Saki not to find out what it was.
“So, what happened?”
As if taking in her first breath all night, Marnie spun toward Saki in relief. She spoke in a very low tone.
“I waited to leave like you said. And I checked to see if anyone was following me, but I didn’t see anyone. There was a woman behind the desk.”
“Hillary?” Saki interjected.
“I don’t know her name. But she called Lane, and I think he recognized me because he asked me to come with him to the kitchen. Did you know that there was a kitchen back there?”
“Yeah. He lives there.”
“Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway, he took me back there, and I gave him your message. I told him exactly what you told me.”
“And what did he say?” She asked with her heart thumping.
“Nothing. He just said ‘okay,’ and that’s it.”
“Nothing at all?”
“No. He just looked kind of mad and then walked me out.”
Saki looked away in thought. She didn’t know how to interpret this response. She was expecting him to forgive her. At least, she was hoping for that. She was even prepared for an angry message back. But she didn’t know how to respond to no response at all.
“I’m sorry,” Marnie offered. “Did I do something wrong?”
Saki looked at her, n
ot ready to let Marnie off of the hook. She knew that it wasn’t her sister’s fault that Lane hadn’t forgiven her. But she had to be mad at somebody, and after years of practice, Marnie was the easiest target.
“Do you want me to give him another message tomorrow?”
“I don’t know yet. I’ll see.”
Even though she shouldn’t have, she left her sister to stew as she went to bed. She knew that Marnie was just trying to help her, but she wasn’t yet ready to let go of all the years that her sisters had tormented her. Perhaps she should, but that wouldn’t be tonight. Tonight, she had other things to think about. Both Lane and Gully had turned out to be different people than she had guessed. Now, she had to figure out what she would do next.
Chapter 3
At school the next day, Saki tried to enter homeroom as late as possible again. Scanning the room, she locked eyes with Gully, who waved her over. Not knowing what to do, her eyes darted over to Lane. His mouth hung open, watching her. But knowing she couldn’t refuse Gully‘s invitation, she headed toward him.
“Move, Mark,” Gully said, freeing up the seat behind him.
Unsure of what was happening, Saki put her bag down and slid behind the desk. Looking around, she saw that even Mr. DeMarco was watching. Acting as casually as possible, she sunk down into her chair and withdrew her math homework.
“Hey Frank,” Mark said, his voice a little louder than a whisper. “Did you finish your math homework?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Buyah, let me check it out.”
“No. You should have done your own homework.”
“Don’t be so stingy, dread.”
“No. Do your own work.”
Mark looked over at the work on Saki‘s desk. “I guess you know how to do my math problems.”
“Of course she does,” Gully interjected. “She’s in Pure Math. But that doesn’t mean that she’s gonna do your work, either. Just shut up and do your own work. You don’t see she’s tryin’ ta work?”
Saki looked up, and Gully offered her a knowing smile. She couldn’t help but smile back. Gully turned around to speak to her.
“What are you doing after school?”
“I don’t know. Why?” Saki asked, sure that his question had to do with Dax.
“You want to hang out?”
Saki wasn’t sure what was happening. He was being very nice to her. Was it possible that he liked her in a romantic sense? Didn’t he know that she was Dax‘s? “At the Fish Fry?”
“Yeah, we could pick you up from there.”
We, she repeated in her mind. This wasn’t a date. This was some sort of pack event. “Yeah, okay,” she said, knowing it would give her the alibi she needed to deliver one more message to Lane.
“Cool.” Gully smiled and then turned back around.
That day, Saki had English grammar with Patrick and English literature with Frank. At the beginning of both classes, the boys waved her over to sit with them. They didn’t say much once she got there, but she accepted their invitations as part of her obligation now.
At the end of the day, the boys invited her over to sit with them in the grass between the upper and lower school. Saki apologized, saying that she had to wait for her mother with her sisters but that she would see them soon. That seemed to satisfy them, but she wondered what she had gotten herself into.
Lane, on the other hand, seemed to be watching her the entire day. More than once, she had turned to meet his eyes before she smelled him. Once their eyes met, he would quickly look away. She wasn’t sure what his attention meant, but she was anxious to clear up the obvious misunderstanding.
Later, in her bedroom, she gave Marnie a message. “Tell him that I’m doing what I have to do, and that I have a plan. Then ask him if we can meet tomorrow at nine at our usual place.”
Saki left soon afterwards. She wasn’t sure how she would interact with Dax, considering she planned to betray him. But she had no choice. She was going to have to do a lot of pretending until everything was complete, so she may as well start now.
Saki was at the Fish Fry for only 10 minutes when Gully‘s familiar white sedan arrived. It was the same car she’d seen parked in the school parking lot.
“Get in,” he beckoned from the driver seat.
Patrick was in the front passenger seat, so she opened up the back door, pushing Frank to the middle between her and Mark. Saki didn’t dare ask where they were going, and her heart pounded the farther she got from home.
Driving along the shoreline, they passed all of the hotels toward the expensive houses past the airport. It was only a 15-minute drive, but on this island, it constituted a massive zip code change. Taking a quick left into one of the expensive neighborhoods, their car snaked back around to the three-story house that stood on the cliff face overlooking the ocean. The house was huge and beautiful.
The boys casually got out of the car, leaving Saki to follow them. Entering through a pair of double doors, they traveled up a few levels to the kitchen and an open family room area. Gully headed straight for the fridge to pull out a tray of sandwiches. Placing them on the table, each of the boys grabbed one, leaving Saki a choice of three.
“It’s chicken salad. Do you want one?” Gully asked.
Saki watched as the other boys headed toward the big-screen TV and flipped through the game cartridges.
“Wolfenstein?” Mark asked the group.
“Sure,” Gully said, still looking at Saki and the sandwiches.
Saki took one, following Gully with her eyes as he returned to the fridge. “There’s soda and juice. If you want any, just help yourself.” Gully then crossed the room, took a game controller and parked himself in front of the TV.
Unsure of what she was supposed to do, Saki stood at the island that separated the kitchen from the boys. When they didn’t look up from the game, she sat on one of the high wicker chairs. The sandwich was good, and when a dark-skinned Jamaican woman appeared, she knew who had made it.
“Hello,” the grinning woman said in a distinctly Jamaican accent.
“Hi,” she said, not knowing how to react.
“Would you like something to drink? Gully, don’t you know to offer your guests something to drink?” the woman scolded.
“I told her she could help herself,” he yelled back, never taking his eyes off of the screen.
“That is no way to treat a young lady. You’ve got to do better than that.”
“Offer her something to drink then.”
“Gully, this is your guest.”
“Geraldine, don’t you see we’re playing a game?”
“You’re just rude. Do you hear me?” She asked, sucking her teeth in disgust. “What would you like to drink?”
Saki felt like she was in some type of twilight zone. Did these boys not realize they were killers? She was sure that Geraldine wouldn’t be so quick to scold him if she knew what he was capable of. And yet, they all sat around in this gorgeous house playing video games like they were just average high school boys. She couldn’t understand it.
“I’m fine thanks,” Saki replied.
Not accepting no for an answer, the Jamaican woman continued. “We have soda, orange juice, milk, apple juice, and water.”
“She said she didn’t want anything,” Gully replied, still not looking up.
“Don’t listen to him. What can I get you?”
The truth was that she was thirsty. But because she kept expecting Dax to arrive at any moment, she didn’t dare move. “Apple juice, please.”
Geraldine poured a glass and then pushed it over to Saki. Watching the boys for a while, she bent her round squat body, allowing her chest to rest on the island. After a few moments, she straightened up and headed for the exit.
“You’ve got to treat your guests better than this,” she chastised one more time.
“Bye, Geraldine,” Gully said more as a command.
The little Jamaican woman sucked her teeth again and then meandered out.
Gully continued his game until he used up the last of his lives. Getting up, he walked back over to Saki. “Did you want to play?”
“No, that’s okay. Is Dax coming over?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
The way Gully stared at her, she wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a threat. She was having a difficult time figuring out what was going on. Why was she there? What exactly did they want with her? What would happen when she asked to leave? Gully soon returned to his game while Saki sat in a closer chair to watch.
As the night wore on, she began to get the impression that they didn’t want anything from her. They had really just invited her to hang out. In a way, it was kind of nice. Weird, but nice. They really were a pack. They seemed to just like being with each other, even though together they acted like a bunch of juveniles.
Saki didn’t have to ask Gully to leave. At one point, he abruptly looked up and announced that he would drop everyone home. Gully offered to drop her in front of her house, but Saki insisted on the Fish Fry. They compromised with dropping her at the end of her block.
The night, as a whole, was bizarre. The more she learned about this new world, the less she understood.
Saki was once again late for dinner, but today her mother didn’t say anything. They all simply ate in silence, and when they were done, Saki looked for the first opportunity to speak to Marnie.
“He said that you should come by at nine and that he was looking forward to talking to you,” Marnie said excitedly.
Saki wasn’t sure how to take that, so she took it as a good sign. Lying in bed after the lights were out, she thought about her time with Lane. She remembered him being gentle with her. He took her tender breasts in his hand and gently squeezed them. His tongue dancing on hers had made her head spin. His thick endowment inching its way inside of her had filled her in a way she had never imagined.
Saki rolled over and stared at the twin’s closed door. Keeping an eye on it for movement, she slowly slid her fingers between her legs and pressed against the engorged flesh. She wanted her hand to be Lane‘s hand. When she traced her fingertips along the entrance of her opening, her breath hitched.