by A. D. Ryan
Because I went unexplainably MIA last night, I tried to catch up on what was uncovered at the club. I could feel the watchful eye of my father from his corner office, which was actually even more distracting than my own inability to focus. It got so bad that I had to ask Keaton and O’Malley to repeat themselves a couple of times each before I just decided to read their findings. Even this wasn’t an easy task, though, and I wound up reading and rereading everything several times in an attempt to absorb the information. I probably shouldn’t have been here, to be honest. Clearly I wasn’t going to be any help to the case like this.
Having been watching me like a hawk, David picked up on this and suggested we go grab a bite to eat, maybe stop by the abandoned club, and he’d give me a walk-through and briefing. I jumped at the opportunity, hoping that escaping the concerned stares of my peers might help.
Of course, my dad took a little convincing.
He was worried that something might happen again, but I assured him that I wouldn’t leave David’s side. The fact that it was early afternoon helped ease his worry a little as well, and he reached into his bottom desk drawer, pulling out my gun and badge. A pang of guilt paralyzed me momentarily, and as he placed the cool metal Glock in my hand, an image shot forward from the dark depths of my memory.
The edges of this vision—like every other one I had since waking up this morning—were somewhat hazy and dreamlike, and I saw my gun and badge on the ground, the dirt around them disturbed. Then a dark nose appeared, and the sound of sniffing filled my head. Sensory recall kicked in, and the smell of dirt and dead leaves caught me off guard. I had this happen before, but it was never so intense as to render me momentarily disoriented. Perhaps it was due to my increased sense of smell, but I took a confused step back, hitting the doorframe of my dad’s office, and I shook my head in an effort to clear it.
What the hell was that?
There was no time to question what I just saw any further, noticing the concerned looks both my father and David gave me. Apologizing, I fastened my gun and badge to my belt with repeated assurances that everything would be fine, and then David and I were off.
Within an hour, David and I were rolling into the Warehouse District of Phoenix. There was no need for the entire team to come along; this was just for me to better understand what was found last night—which, as David explained it, didn’t sound like a whole hell of a lot. The rest of our coworkers stayed behind to keep investigating the information they had.
The familiar stench of death and rot hung in the cool autumn air as I stepped out of the car, and I forced myself to push past it as we advanced on the yellow tape that blocked off the entrance. Inside, not much changed aside from the smell of Luminol now mingling with the blood I’d smelled the night before.
As we looked around, David explained the findings. Blood sources from several victims were found, and the lab was currently running the results through the system to find out exactly how many and if they could get any hits. The problem with that was, unless these people were previously in our system, we wouldn’t have any luck. I didn’t need David or the CSU to tell me that some of these people might not be around for questioning anymore; I could smell that there was a lot of blood. In an even more bizarre twist, I didn’t need David to tell me that the blood came from several different people. I could smell it. I sniffed again, trying hard to ignore the smell of rot and focusing on the unique copper notes of each blood type.
Yup. Four…maybe five different sources were dominant, and there were even more underlying the more potent smells. Now to see what the lab had to say.
At first, the fact that I used my sense of smell like this didn’t faze me. Why? I suppose I’d grown used to it as it heightened over the weeks. But, the more I thought about it, the more I started to question everything Nick told me only a few hours ago.
No. It’s ridiculous. Werewolves? I couldn’t believe I even entertained the thought for a second.
I forced my head back in the game, but it didn’t stay there as we stepped back outside. We exited the alley, David’s protective hand on the small of my back as he led me to the car. Ever the gentleman—or maybe because he was afraid I might bolt—he opened my door for me and waited for me to get in. I was about to, stepping one leg into the car, but before I slid into the seat, I froze, looking off to the left as the breeze brought with it a familiar scent.
Mine.
“Brooke?”
Something deep down—that unexplainable feeling I had lately—pulled my attention in that direction. It only took a second for me to realize that it was where I ran the night before.
“Brooke?” David repeated, placing his hand over mine on the top of the car door.
Jarred from the instinct to follow my own invisible trail, I turned to him. “Sorry.” I made another move to get into the car, but every fiber of my being rebelled against what logic told me I had to do. “Hey,” I said, nervous that David would refuse what I knew was a ridiculous request. “Do we have to head back right this second?” David’s right brow arched in question, prodding me silently to continue. “It’s just…I’d like to see.”
The second he sighed, I knew he understood my vague request. I feared his refusal, but he surprised me, stepping back and allowing me the chance to walk the path he did last night. We walked together side by side, and after a block, David grabbed my hand. Everything looked a little different with the sun out, but when I looked around, I recognized it as the area I discarded my phone. This was where he realized something was wrong.
We walked further, following my fading scent—at least, I was. It definitely wasn’t a strong trail, but I recognized it. I followed it, my eyes searching, nose sniffing, ears straining to hear… Once again, I was forced back to Nick’s explanation for all of this, and once again, I brushed it off as impossible. Ridiculous.
In just over an hour, we’re at the edge of the city. Nothing but desert for miles. David seemed nervous beside me, his worry written all over his face and emanating off his body, infusing the air I breathed. When he looked down at me, it was like he was reliving my disappearance. I gently squeezed his hand, and he relaxed slightly. Another breeze picked up as we stepped through the light brush, and it frustrated me when my scent disappeared…I inhaled again—deeper—and my eyes fluttered slightly.
No. Not disappeared. It just…changed. Not only had it changed, but as I inhaled another breath, I picked up something else. Something more than familiar. In fact, the other smell I registered was one that surrounded me all morning. A smell that lingered on my skin even now, despite my shower.
Nick.
Not wanting to revisit our argument from earlier, I failed to mention this revelation to David. Instead, I continued forward, eyes scanning every square inch as I walked. The only way to describe what flew through my head was a vivid slideshow of images flashing between patches of extreme darkness, almost like a strobe light effect. It was unsettling, and a cold sweat traveled across my entire body, prickling.
There’d been a lot of foot traffic on these trails, but what stood out to me most were the spaced out, bare footprints amongst all the shoe treads. They were spaced far enough apart to indicate the person—me, I suspected based on the recent flashes in my mind—was running. I didn’t recall being chased, but the adrenaline that coursed through my body—that currently coursed through my body as I relived all of this—would prove otherwise. I dug deeper into the memory, feeling the cold earth on my feet, the low, thin branches whipping at my face and arms, and I knew without a doubt that I wasn’t running from anything. I was running toward it.
I stopped, forcing David to do the same, and I glanced toward the ground, confused at first.
“We suspect this is where you disappeared,” David whispered, his voice soft and broken.
The detective in me needed a closer look at the tracks, and I knelt down. It was the last of my bare footprints. Beyond that, it looked like something—me—collapsed, disturbing the dirt, gras
s, and dried up desert plants on the ground. Another step forward, and I saw fresh tracks…fresh wolf tracks.
No, I told myself, imagining a wolf ripping its way out of my body. I felt the tension of my skin before it gave way, heard the snarl… It’s impossible. This is just a coincidence. Wild animals prowl these areas all the time. I looked to the right and saw rabbit footprints, forcing the logic to overrule what I refused to believe. See. Wild animals are everywhere.
My stomach growled, and I started salivating. I made the connection to the fact that I only had a small, extremely unsatisfying breakfast bagel. It wasn’t until I started thinking about the rabbit that I even realized I was hungry. This disturbed me, but I continued to chalk it up as mere coincidence.
Still kneeling, my gaze drifted over the desert floor. Another wolf’s tracks joined the ones I was following with my eyes a moment ago, and it was hard to deny what Nick told me this morning as his scent surrounded me. As our scents surrounded me.
“We saw the wolf tracks amongst your torn clothing and assumed the worst,” David continued as I stood up and moved toward a big rock. Another scent was present, and it took me a moment to place it…
Leather. I distinctly smelled leather.
There, at the base of this rock was a scrap of it. I picked up the brown, supple material, recognizing it as a piece of my jacket. I grew instantly annoyed. This was the second jacket in as many weeks that I’d ruined. What were the odds?
Even though I would have loved nothing more than to dwell on this particular detail and forget about all of the weird shit that was becoming harder and harder to ignore, I couldn’t. I clenched the fabric in my hand and continued to look around, wanting to make logical sense of everything that happened last night.
Shards of rock littered the ground, having broken off a larger one embedded in dirt. I felt a strange jolt of pain in my back as another flash of a brown wolf pinning me against it assaulted me. Instinctively, I reached around and placed a hand on my lower back, trying to pass this off as another coincidence. Maybe even some kind of post-dream empathy.
Though, it was getting much harder to deny.
David’s hand rested on my back, and I recoiled, still trapped in these strange flashes or hallucinations, and swatted his arm away as I breathed heavily. Reality continued to slip away until the blackness between visions disappeared completely and all I saw was this darker wolf on top of me, then under me, then over me again. His breath was hot and his teeth were sharp as they bit down on the side of my neck. His bite was tentative, non-fatal, and his eyes were anything but threatening. They were playful…and so familiar.
I must have recognized this, because I rolled from beneath him, tail wagging…
Wait. That can’t be right.
Before I could even look into that particular thought, David pulled my focus back to him. “What is it?” he prodded, his bright blue eyes searching mine for some kind of clue. “Do you remember something?”
A headache formed at the base of my neck, everything throbbing even more profusely as I tossed my head back and forth. Just like that, the strange wolf fight disappeared from my head, but the sensations that told me it was all too real lingered: my sore back from being thrown against the rock, my neck where the other wolf—Nick?—bit down…
It was all too much. I couldn’t… It wasn’t possible… Was it?
Worried, David ushered me to the oversized rock and sat us down on it. He asked me over and over again what I remembered, but I avoided the question. What was I supposed to say? There was no way he’d ever believe me even if I did tell him the truth. At best, he’d have me committed to the mental health unit at the hospital and they’d have me evaluated before locking me up in a padded room.
Besides, I still wasn’t sure I believed it. I mean, I think I was starting to, but there were so many questions…
…and only one person who seemed to hold all the answers.
Chapter nineteen | discovery
Two days passed since my disappearing act, and I was still trying to make sense of everything. The scenes with the wolves played over and over inside my head. I wanted to keep telling myself that none of it was true, but I couldn’t. The things I saw seemed too real; if it were all just a dream, I wouldn’t be feeling the things I felt or smelling the things I smelled when I thought of them.
I arrived at the park a few blocks from my house just before four in the morning. David was still at home sleeping, none the wiser that I’d slipped out of bed to come here. If he did happen to wake up, I’d taken the liberty of dressing in clothes fit for an early morning run and left him a note on his bedside table telling him that was exactly what I was doing.
He continued to be pretty over-protective, so if he did wake up in an empty bed, I was positive he’d still flip the hell out.
But I needed answers, and this was the only way I could think to get them.
The park was empty when I arrived, each and every piece of equipment uninhabited by children—which only made sense at this hour. A thick, early morning fog hovered in the air, making the playground look somewhat frightening. While it was uncommon this time of year, it definitely set the stage for the impending conversation.
I grabbed one of the swings and had a seat, gripping the cold metal chains as I swayed back and forth. The sky was still dark, the stars bright, and the round moon shining, but I could see dawn starting to warm the horizon. While I sat there, waiting, I took in the sights, smells, and sounds of the empty park. I never would have thought that sunrise had a specific scent, but it did. I could smell the damp soil, the moisture as it lingered on the grass, and the condensation in the fog as the climate slowly changed.
I was so lost to the miniscule changes every minute that I didn’t sense my company until he stood right behind me. He startled me when he grabbed my sides and a defensive snarl surprised me even more as it ripped from my throat. It died in the relief and realization that it was just Nick being Nick.
He looked at me apologetically, smiling nervously as he moved around to face me. “Sorry. I didn’t think I’d scare you. Figured you’d know I was there.”
“I guess I was lost in thought,” I replied.
Nick claimed the swing next to me, and I bit back a girlish giggle at the sight of his hulkish frame on a swing meant for children. He swayed back and forth and side to side, his eyes on me the entire time.
“I’m glad you called,” he said, eyeing me somewhat nervously. “Does that mean…you believe me?”
Hesitant to reply right away, I shrugged. “I don’t want to,” I admitted quietly, looking down as I toed the dirt with my running shoe. “But, as much as I hate to admit it, nothing else makes sense.”
“It usually doesn’t at first,” Nick replied softly, drawing my eyes to his. “Honestly, I’m surprised you came around as quickly as you did, given your reaction the other morning.”
“It was…” I paused. “A lot to take in. I couldn’t allow myself to believe something so…”
“Ridiculous?” I nodded once in response to his inquiry, and he chuckled lightly. “I get that.”
I watched him carefully, picking up on the subtle shifts in his expression, body language, and even his scent. He was nervous about something, and it didn’t take me long to figure him out: he was here once. I didn’t know how long ago, but he got it, and it comforted me to know I wasn’t alone.
Every question I’d come up with over the last couple of days sped through my head, each one of them colliding with another at some point in the race to be the first one asked. But I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. How was a person just supposed to ask these sorts of questions like it was no different than asking about the weather?
Thankfully, Nick broke the ice.
“So, what do you want to know?”
I sat there, stunned for just a moment before I decided to say, “You claim that I’m a…”
“A werewolf,” Nick added after I trailed off, a cocky smirk spreading acro
ss his face.
The word still struck me as ridiculous, but I agreed to hear him out. I fought the denial from sneaking back in. Hoping to finally get some answers to all the weird stuff that happened to me, I agreed with a slight nod. “Yeah. That. But what does it even mean? Howling at the full moon? Silver bullets? Chasing my tail?”
A loud peal of laughter filled the night air, and my cheeks heated. Suddenly, I felt stupid that these were the first questions I asked. Though, I suppose there weren’t many questions I could ask that wouldn’t sound like I’d seen one too many horror movies.
When his laughter died down to a low chuckle, Nick acknowledged my questions. “Silver burns like hell if we come into contact with it, but any old bullet will do the trick if the shooter hits his mark.”
I let this information sink in, remembering the irritation I felt when I wore my silver necklace. I just passed it off as some kind of allergic reaction, but with everything else that happened, I suppose this could have been a better explanation. Especially since I’d never had a problem wearing it for the last few years…
“The full moon will force a shift in the beginning,” Nick continued, pulling me out of my silent reverie. “But as you become familiar with this side of you, you’ll be able to change whenever.”
Hope swelled in my chest. “So, I’d be able to avoid this altogether?”
Nick’s face twisted with remorse. “No. You still need to shift. If you go too long between, you’ll become volatile—unpredictable—and the wolf could take over at any time. It…” He sighed, and I thought I saw something in his eyes that told me he knew this firsthand. “You’ll feel agitated, and the slightest upset could trigger the transformation. People could get hurt.”
The optimism I felt just a moment ago deflated, and I absorbed this new information. “Okay, so how long until I can control it?”
He stared at me, his eyes dark and intense, and I swore that amber inner ring of his irises appeared brighter for a second. “The minute you accept it as a part of who you are.”