by Fay Walsh
No matter the obstacles, she would write a piece on him, even if it was only based on internet research. As Lisa noticed from their encounter, she she wouldn’t be getting anything more from him.
At this point, things were leading to her disaster. So much for the piece that would kickstart her career. She was being treated like a piece of garbage and she felt discouraged.
“For now, a trip to the library,” she sighed.
She needed to find information on him, whether that be gossip or facts that worked in her favor. She figured that a search in the Internet would bring her something, since Darren was an important person.
When she finally reached the library, she got on a computer. She started her research, expecting nothing original, or intriguing to show up.
“Not like I’m going to get the answers that I need just by one search,” she exclaimed.
She started to look at the search results, starting first with general biography information. So far, there wasn’t anything special. Most of it consisted of things that she had already either reported or stuff that she already knew.
She went through on more websites, realizing that most of them repeated the same content. She would not find anything of value there.
But when she got to the fourth page of the results she noticed something interesting.
The forums.
The forums she noticed were a bit more active than the rest of the content she had skimmed until then. She moved towards the search bar to search into the forums.
The first result that popped up was a thread based on town rumors. When she opened it, she immediately looked at the comments. First and foremost people commented that he was rude. Most of the participants on this thread were angry at the way he had treated them. But then, at the end of the page, she noticed a sentence that immediately sparked her curiosity.
“Wait, a shifter?” she exclaimed, hoping that she didn’t bother anyone in the library.
She scrolled down, and there were more rumors that claimed he was a shifter. They didn’t know what he shifted into, others claimed that he was a werewolf, others that he was a mythical animal. Lisa kept staring at these statements, her eyes widening at the realization.
This might be the hook she was looking for, and the angle of the story that she needed.
Chapter 4
“Why is she so obsessed with me?” Darren wondered.
He looked at the car as it sped off, his heart racing as he looked around. Could it be that she was sent by another rival shifter? Would it turn out to be another mess he would need to clean up?
Darren had no damn clue. He didn’t know what to make of her behavior. His only option might be to look into the matter himself. After he finished his work day he stepped out of the building, looking around the perimeter of the office again. She was gone, which was both relieving, yet slightly worrisome.
“My business is my main issue. I musn’t forget that,” he said loudly to his image in the car mirror.
Darren had worked hard to get to where he was, and he would rather just focus on that than to something that some nosey journalist was doing.
He went home, heading straight for his office, in order to check on the different cameras that he had set up. He skimmed through the video footage of day, feeling relieved that everything seemed at place.
“It’s been quiet since the Kirk mess,” he thought.
Kirk. Travis’ rival, and a shifter that was known for killing people in town. The murders were at first insignificant creatures, such as cows and other domestic animals. However, when it turned to people, Darren remembered that they had worked night and day to find the culprit.
In fact, this was how Alana got involved in the whole shifter mess. Darren was happy that Travis had found someone he could love. At that moment though he remembered that she was quite troublesome.
“Women aren’t worth it. I don’t have time to deal with a relationship,” he said to his screen.
He studied the camera footage in more detail, but there wasn’t anything that he had missed the first time. Ten, he looked online to make sure that people weren’t starting trouble in the forums. The only thing he found was the same rumors. Since everything seemed quite, Darren figured that the best thing he had to do would be to just wait and see.
“Anything new?” Travis asked as he came in.
“Nothing. Seems like we are safe for now,” Darren replied.
“Good. You need to relax, my friend.”
“She showed up again. I don’t know who is sending that woman after me, but I’m not having it. It crossed my mind that it might be another shifter,” Darren said.
“Maybe it isn’t her being nosey, my friend. Maybe she just likes you,” Travis replied, dismissing Darren’s suggestion.
“We don’t need to discuss this again.”
“Yeah, you say that you don’t need anyone but it’s obvious that the rise she’s getting out of you is so much more than that,” Travis insisted.
Damn Alpha.
Darren scoffed once more, not being able to suppress the annoyance that the Alpha’s words were creating.
“Like I said Travis, I’m not interested in trying to find a girlfriend. I don’t want women to get involved in my life. I’m the Bete, and one of us has to be kept sane and not blinded by love,” he stated.
“I know. But don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself,” Travis tried to reassure him.
Darren nodded and went back to work, as Travis left him alone. When it was time for dinner, Darren made his way downstairs, still feeling annoyed at his conversation with the Alpha. He sat down at the table and checked at a couple of business emails he had received. Billy interrupted him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I noticed you started taking meals in your office,” he remarked.
“Sorry. I’ve been pretty busy with work.”
“Yeah, and I can tell it’s taking a toll on you, Darren. Listen, maybe a girlfriend would help. You’d be a lot less stiff,” he said in a sing-song voice.
Darren frowned at Billy’s words. The last thing he needed was patronizing from this happy-go-lucky guy.
“You know that I don’t do love,” he said.
“Aww well, maybe you’ll finally get used to express yourself a bit. I mean, you seem to be slowly losing your composure. Bet it’s a girl,” Billy teased him.
“You need to mind your tongue. You and I both know that I don’t do love. I don’t care for love, and I have no desire to go through with it,” Darren snapped.
“I know, but still. Maybe it’ll help.”
“I don’t want to.”
Darren’s words mught have sounded cold, but in his heart, as he was uttering them, he felt hesitation. It was a new feeling for him but nobody seemed to notice. He never wanted to experience love for a very specific reason. It wasn’t just because of the seriousness of his job.
This was a reason that not even Travis was aware of. Something he only kept to himself and he planned on keeping it this way. No-one needed to know about it, especially people like Billy who were too damn positive for their own good.
“Anyway, enough about me. Let’s get to eating,” Daren said.
“I agree,” Travis said as he walked in.
The other shifters nodded, each of them going quiet as Travis sat at the head of the table, Alana in tow.
“Now, has anyone heard from Kirk and his group since we got rid of him?” Travis asked.
“I’ve been looking, but nothing so far,” Darren said.
“Same here,” Billy said.
“Yeah. I’ve been patrolling as you told me to, but I haven’t found anything. By the way, I did the trial runs again, and I managed to get a little faster than before,” Benjamin added.
“Good. We need you to get stronger Benjamin. You’re a big part of our Clan, and we as shifters need to make sure we keep our identity secret from everyone,” Travis said and gave a quicj glance at Alana.
“
Yeah. I haven’t said anything,” Alana said.
“And that’s how it should be. I want to make our community grow. It seems that we have built something strong here. You are all aware that if something bad does happen, we’ll have to move, but I’m intending to avoid this scenario as much as I can. I don’t want to lose this place. It’s been good for all of us,” Travis said.
“Yeah, I just need that damn journalist off my back,” Darren said.
“Journalist? Do you mean Lisa?” Alana asked him.
Darren looked up at her with a questioning look on his face.
“You know her?” he finally asked.
“Yeah. She’s a friend I used to hang out back when I lived in the city. I even recommended the town to her, but I didn’t expect she would actually come so quickly,” she said.
“Well, she’s here now, and she’s a bit obsessed with me,” he said.
“I see. I mean, I guess if she gets any worse, I’ll talk to her. But, she should be fine. She’s pretty easy to let down,” Alana said.
“Yeah, I know that, but I’m worried about her. She doesn’t seem to take hints. And I mean, with the whole Kirk thing, you can’t trust anyone. Who knows, she might be a shifter, even though I didn’t sense a damn thing,” he admitted.
“I don’t think she is. But I believe that she’s a little bit naive. You shouldn’t worry about her,” Alana reassured him.
“I don’t, I’m just voicing my concerns,” he said.
“It’s ok. Trust me on that though. I know what it’s like. But, if it makes you more at ease, I’ll keep an eye out for her. Chances are, she probably just likes you, and she’s not trying to do any harm.”
“You say that, but you know that I don’t trust humans. I don’t want them in my life,” Darren said.
“But I’m a human,” Alana teased.
“You’re like the only human I can tolerate, so there’s that,” he said.
“Gee, I’m honored,” Alana said sardonically.
The group laughed, and for Darren, it felt like normal clan affairs. In reality, he wouldn’t mind the idea of having Lisa in their small group, but she reminded him too much of her. So much that it was for the best if she stayed away.
Dinner went as usual, with the other shifters talking and lightly badgering each other. Darren looked around on everyone but focusing more on Travis and Alana.
“It’s so weird how our Alpha was the first to find love, you know? I mean, I do respect you and everything, but still, I-”
As Darren said those words, there was a crash. Immediately, the clan all looked at one another. Darren was the first to speak.
“Did you all just hear that, or am I hallucinating?”
“You’re not hallucinating. There was definitely something outside just now,” Alana said.
“We should go check. Or maybe I should. Travis, you stay with the rest of the Clan,” he said, while his mind was rushing to various possibilities.
“No. We are going together Darren,” Travis ordered.
“Always the alpha.”
“Well, I don’t want my Beta getting hurt,” Travis spat back.
“You don’t have to worry about me. Besides, I’m the oldest one here.”
The duo walked outside. The other shifters and Alana followed suit, always keeping a safe distance from them. Darren had a bad feeling about all of this. He looked around and that’s when he saw it.
Smoke.
Panic immediately set into his body. Had someone started a fire? The fire department was on the other side of town, so it would be a while until they could get someone over here to put the fire out.
He run towards the smole, hoping that the damage would be reversible. When he got closer, he realized that it wasn’t a fire spreading the smoke. It was just a smoke bomb.
“Really? A smoke bomb. They need to do better than this,” he said to Travis.
Darren continued to walk towards the silo and he noted that there was some writing on the wall. Upon closer inspection, he read the words which made his hairs immediately stand on end. With his guard up, he took a turn around the building, ready to shift at any moment.
He motioned to Travis that all was clear and watched the other shifters return to the house. Darren remained where he was, trying to distinguish any sound that would reveal someone hiding. After a while, he gave up and read the words once again before heading towards his house.
Don’t relax too soon, you damn bears.
Chapter 5
Lisa tried to forget the comments that she had read on that forum.
The fact that Darren might be a shifter intrigued her. If this proved to be true, she would have the biggest piece of her career. It was worth checking into it.
At first, she spent hours just looking at different forums online, until she couldn’t find any other threads. She decided that she would ask her boss about those rumors. He was living in this town for quite some time, so he should know something. Maybe he was aware of something that she was missing.
“Hey there Lisa,” her boss said the following morning. He was sitting with his legs on the desk and a big smile on his face.
“Good morning, sir. So uh, I have a question for you. Do you know anything about shifters?” she asked.
There was a pause, and then, he looked at her with concern.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been doing some research on those that shift to animals, you know like wolves and other animals. I’ve been reading about them for personal reasons, and I’ve been... I’ve been curious. Maybe it’s just my curiosity, but I was wondering if any of it could actually be true,” she explained to Thomas.
There was a pause and then Thoma replied with a frown on his face.
“You know, sometimes it’s better to not get involved in things you don’t understand, Lisa. I don’t know much about them either, but I’ve always as a rule of thumb never dealt with things that I can’t fully understand. I know that you’re a journalist and your curiosity is a really good trait for this profession. I’ve heard about shifters, and I would suggest that you should know that what you’re getting into is something dangerous,” he said.
“You sound like you know of them. I’m only asking because there are rumors that there are shifters in town and-”
“Lisa. I told you before, shifters are quite fascinating, but they aren’t real, Lisa. They’re just a figment of people’s imagination. Some stories that are used to scare the children. I want you to get more information on Darren. Don’t waste your time though on irrelevant nonsensical rumors,” he said.
Lisa paused annoyed at his words. She figured that she should ask him clearly about Darren.
“I only asked you because I saw that there were rumors about Darren, and I wanted to know if you knew anything more about them,” she said.
Immediately, the atmosphere in the office changed. She noticed that Thomas was looking at her with worry.
“You mean to tell me that...”
“Yes, sir. There are rumors that he’s a shifter, and I want to know more about them. Even if that makes me nosey, I want to discover everything about it,” she explained.
“You’re quite stubborn. I didn’t know that, but I do suggest not getting involved in things that might be false leads. I personally… wouldn’t step into that realm,” he said.
Lisa looked at him with annoyance. It seemed to her as if he knew things that he wasn’t willing to disclose. Could this mean that there was some reality in those rumors?
“Your face changed the second I talked about this. You can’t stop me, though, sir. I want to… I want to know. I’m not going to just let this go. There is something there, something that’s eating away at me. I think it’s safe to say that if I find out the truth behind this, I’ll have a story. Don’t worry, I won’t publish it in a way that makes us sound like crazy loons,” she tried to lighten the mood.
“I really don’t want you getting involved, Lisa. It’s… it’s
hard to explain. I know about shifters, and if you don’t want to die, then you should stay out of this.”
“Fuck that. I’m a journalist. Risking my neck for a scoop is what I do,” she said. Her story was right there.
“Then you’re a fool and I won’t be able to convince you otherwise,” Thomas resigned.
“I’m not going to hurt myself, sir. I will do everything to bring you the hottest story,” she said with determination.