“You’re making that up,” I said, crossing my arms.
He then proceeded to get off his chair and lift it with a single finger. “Trust me, we’re pretty much kept around for our strength alone.”
Chapter 8
It was almost ten. I’d finally gotten through the contract. The NDA was mostly about the masquerade, but I was also not supposed to reveal a few other things. I got it signed, and David even handed me a check for my first six hours.
I could tell there were bags under my eyes. The once wholesome smell of dog, tainted by the fact that it wasn’t a dog I was smelling, had all but faded till I smelt nothing at all. I wobbled back and forth.
“Do you want an escort home?” David asked.
For the first time that night, it felt like he was serious. I smiled smugly that he wasn’t and shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” I said, grabbing my things.
I stepped out into the cool night breeze. The temperature shock took a few moments to get over. Even so close to the summer, the night air was cold, especially since the bar had been so warm.
I breathed lightly through my nose, then remembered I was in the city. The air was fine, but not the calming nature smell you’d expect after the wash of cold. I strode out of the alleyway and onto the street. Now I knew where to go, so I wouldn’t be wandering around like this afternoon.
My thoughts kept going in circles, ranging from I can’t believe I got this job to replaying the event with Silvia. It went by so often, I pretty much managed to picture my way through seeing the guys as werewolves shifting right before I passed out.
I yawned and turned a corner when an elderly gentleman waved an arm at me. “Excuse me, miss. Do you happen to have the time?” he asked.
He wore thick black clothes that covered most of him, with a belt full of various pouches.
“Oh, sure. It’s… ten… fifteen pm,” I responded.
His expression shifted, turning into a sneer while he turned away from me. He looked down at a phone. I raised an eyebrow as the sound of a text message flying off played. The man walked away, and I continued walking.
My entire world had been blown right out of the water. Werewolves and, apparently their masters, the mages, and other things existed. Their one job… protect the earth from invasion. It was enough to send shivers of excitement up one’s spine.
The werewolves seemed to think they did so little when it came to the regular people that it wasn’t really worth getting worked up about. Not some big government conspiracy? Just some old families protecting everyone.
I thought back to ‘underground the plane of existence’. Maybe this was some kind of eldritch horror scenario straight out of Lovecraft’s books. The Members of the community were the only people keeping them from driving the world mad.
That sent another shiver down my spine, but the excitement bubbled up from it stronger than ever. Nothing any of my friends could possibly do would measure up to this. I pet a werewolf and served drinks to them! Heck, I might even get to marry one.
I tried to slow my thoughts around that. So far, I knew of four werewolves, wait… five? Either way, none of them looked like good boyfriend material, especially not Lorenz. I couldn’t date someone who’d cheat on me, or worse.
My thoughts of the entire day banging around inside my head, I took out a compact from my purse and opened it up. Yeah, I had some terrible bags under my eyes.
I moved the compact around to get a few good angles when I noticed something. A person, wearing similar clothes to the man I’d talked to about the time walked behind me. This one had a more slouching posture and an actual face mask and sunglasses.
I slowed my movement and, in an instant, he slowed his. I sped up again and moved to make it look like I was putting the compact away.
I felt like a paranoid wreck like someone would randomly just follow me. That would be the thought process if someone related to the werewolves wasn’t just attacked the proceeding night.
After my feint, I pulled the compact out so that I could see the guy through the gap between my arm and body. Sure enough, he quickened his pace to match up with mine.
“Shit,” I said to myself softly. I was being followed.
Sure, this happened in the books I read, but like, it took at least until the end of the first act or something. Don’t tell me I’d spent all of that on getting fired!
I looked around while trying to make it look like I was walking normally and just admiring the scenery.
I noticed the main road wasn’t far from where I was. At this time of night, there’d be so many people there was no way he’d be able to track me, unless he was also a werewolf. At least that’s what I thought.
I power-walked towards the main road, a place I hated going for most mundane travel. The man followed me and got a bit closer. I turned left and went around a building before turning right onto Main Street, an intentional inefficiency which would only be copied by someone following me. I still had to check. Sure enough, he turned right onto it. I was definitely being followed.
The incident last night taught me one thing: I didn’t know how to fight, not that I couldn’t fight. I mean, obviously, there’s more fight in me than in anyone else, but I just didn’t know how to use it.
My mind flashed over those words again. How to use it. Just because I couldn’t punch or kick well, that didn’t mean I couldn’t use this adrenaline to come up with something much better.
My eyes fluttered to the crowd, hundreds of people walking around. Half watched where they were going, and half had their eyes on their phones.
I dove into the crowd and looked back. The man still followed me. He dodged and weaved through the crowd like he was some kind of ghost.
With so many people around, there was no way he could do something to me. There’d be so many witnesses, but what good were witnesses if the madman didn’t mind getting caught? Moreover, how would they be able to stop him? Just seeing him? His face was pretty covered.
What could a crowd of people possibly do to help me? The thought they might form a gang and try to beat him up flashed through my mind. I wasn’t sure it would work. Just in case, I’d aim for people more likely to help someone like me.
“But everyone needs a pack!” the voice of Silvia echoed in my mind. Solid advice, but it wasn’t like I was making friends, just getting help from others. I’d learn to deal with this on my own.
“Hey, uh… guys,” I said to a group of guys walking.
They seemed to be having a good night and were talking smack and joking around.
“And you are?” one of them asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Getting stalked by the man in the black coat over there,” I said, pointing back.
There was a collective glance across all of their faces as they realized the situation they were in.
I could feel as their adrenaline levels spiked nearly as high as mine. I could read it on their faces. They were startled by all this, but they were ready.
“Jon, you make sure she gets home. We’ll handle him, okay?” one of the guys whispered to another of the group.
One of them, supposedly Jon, walked up towards me while the others turned around.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Jon said, rushing me forwards.
I quickly got to my apartment after that. I thanked Jon for his help and asked him to tell his friends I appreciated the solid.
“No problem. You lock that door tightly, okay?” Jon said before turning and walking away.
I sighed with relief and walked into my apartment.
I was dreading how I looked as my roommate approached me and raised an eyebrow. “Tough night?”
Chapter 9
I was rather uneasy the following day, which meant I couldn’t really focus on my class. Not that I’d been focusing on it much beforehand.
I’d gotten into business when I was young and impressionable, and I have since realized it wasn’t for me. I sighed, looking to the back of the class as if to see a ma
n like before so I had an excuse to run out of the classroom.
I really only had myself to blame, I reminded myself. Every single book I read about this kind of stuff had the heroine thrust into danger. I just didn’t expect it would happen so quickly.
To be fair, how’d I know it was related to the werewolves? I mean, sure, Silvia was attacked, and the guy looked vaguely similar to the assailant. It could just have been an attempted kidnapping.
The more I went through the possibilities, the more I was convinced it had something to do with the community, as they kept calling themselves.
I looked up at the screen and typed in what the slide said, trying to focus my attention on what the professor was saying.
He asked a question, and everyone raised their hands. He selected one guy in the front row, who eagerly answered. The world was almost becoming grey while my thoughts spiralled around. Thoughts of werewolf battles, kidnapping plots, and magic.
What would I do after college? Would I be a bartender there for a prolonged period of time? Would I get married into this werewolf family and live off werewolf dollars? I snickered at werewolf dollars. It was a surprisingly silly thought.
I knew by this point I really didn’t want to be making my own business. With the sunk cost and the vague notion I’d eventually need a decent job, I’d pushed myself further into this thing. Now, I had an unclear but different option open.
Everyone suddenly stood up and walked out of the room, and I quickly jumped up to follow them.
The thought of being in an empty room with no one else, while before was the best way to get stuff done, was now a scary thought.
I scanned the halls for someone like the man from last night.
And standing there, about twenty metres back, was one. This one was much older, his grey hair peeking out from under his hat. The only splotch of colour was his face under all the black. Not even goth-obsessed kids wore that much black.
I started the other way, looking for campus security. I approached the stairs that led down to their office when another man in a black coat, this one with faded blond hair peeking out from his hood, came up the stairs.
I turned and found another man had come out from a hallway. They were boxing me in, and their eyes were all focused on me.
“We don’t want to hurt you. You’re human, like us. Help us rid this world of its sinful creatures!” one of them said.
At the sound of, “We don’t want to hurt you,” the people walking nearby suddenly snapped to attention.
“Help!” I called out to them.
The biggest guy from the crowd jumped into action, grabbing the man’s coat and trying to tear it off him. This lowered it just enough for me to see a flash of white where his shirt collar would be. A reverend collar? On someone trying to attack me?
I noted that and started to run. To my horror, there were a few more men waiting in standby, and one who looked to be a woman. I went into an awkwardly placed stairwell leading to the ground level and booked it downstairs.
I could see the black duster-clad people running down both my stairwell and others through the glass divider. I quickly ran towards the street I’d taken to get to the community centre.
My legs instantly started to protest as I wasn’t very athletic, and I felt myself quickly becoming a bit too slow for my liking.
I checked the street behind me and, luckily, there was a bus heading for a stop. I looked back, and if I kept up this pace, I might get to the stop, get on, and have it start moving before they caught up to me.
I closed my eyes and grunted, trying to get myself to move faster. I was nearly at the stop when the bus arrived, and it started to move away from it without stopping.
“No! Wait!” I screamed, feeling a pit of despair rise in my gut. The door opened, and the bus slowed. My eyes lit up, and I jumped on.
“Thank you. Thank you so much! C-close the door!” I said, seeing the woman in black was nearly to the bus, as well.
He shut the door, and the woman slammed into it and started to smash at the bus.
The bus driver started to move quickly, pulling away from her. Panting heavily, I tugged out my bus pass and beeped it on the machine.
There was an unnerving silence on the bus. Most of the people there had clearly never seen such an outburst.
I slowly got up and moved to the front and sat down, still panting.
“Do you… want someone to call the cops?” someone said once I sat down.
Chapter 10
I arrived at the community centre after swapping buses and, thankfully, this one went to a big bus hub because, if I had to wait for a bus, I’d have died from stress alone. I got to the community centre and slammed the door behind me.
I then fell over and grabbed at my chest. Apparently, the noise was enough to wake some of the dog—the sleeping werewolves, who came over to sniff me.
“Real mature, guys. I know you’re part-human. Don’t sniff me like that,” I said, looking one in the face.
The snout of the wolf melted in, and the fur retracted while the top glided into the shape of a human head. The face turned out to belong to the woman I served a Splashdown to before who raised an eyebrow.
“You were pretty certain Silvia was lying before, and now you’re commenting on our behaviour in wolf form?” she said, folding her arms.
She then went green in the face and turned behind herself to vomit. “Oh, Jesus. What happened to you?” I asked, mind racing to figure out what made her sick, but the only thing she had last night was that drink.
Still, with some sick in her mouth, she turned to me with an angry glare.
“I recently learned the reason we use so much vodka in our magical drinks is that most alchemical ingredients come from bacterial colonies… that—” she said, shifting back into wolf form, apparently to stop herself from puking again.
The other wolf, Daniel, shifted into his human form and put a hand on my shoulder.
“She’ll rest it off soon. Just remember that for next time, they aren’t that harmful but do cause a kind of food poisoning,” he said.
I looked at him with horror. “Oh, God, what will happen to you?!” I said, biting my lip.
“Dragon salts are a pure chemical, made via synthesis, that’s why it can be added to a number of drinks or food without harm,” he said.
I breathed out a sharp sigh of relief.
Another wolf transformed behind me and leaned in to talk in my ear, “So, what brings you here, new girl?”
I looked back. A girl, about my age, with dark red hair, had asked the question.
“I… Well, I’m getting stalked by your enemies,” I said.
She grimaced. “All my enemies are earth elementals, so no one who’s heading above ground for any reason.”
The Splashdown woman walked back to the beds while the other two headed for a table.
“Before you talk about it,” the dragon salts man said, “how about we order you some food? You look hungry.”
The other girl smiled smugly. “Like the wolf,” she added.
“Uh… okay. I guess some fries wouldn’t hurt too much.”
“Gavin!” Daniel shouted. “Order of fries, please!”
“Okay!” Gavin replied from the kitchen door.
“Oh, Gavin’s the fry cook?” I asked.
“Well, not really. Like bartending, cooking isn’t something most people in our organization choose as a role they do. Gavin’s a gentle soul and is alright at cooking, so, you know, we let him.”
“Oh, I, uh… don’t think I got your names,” I said, pointing to the two girls.
“Cassy.” The new girl perked up at hearing her name. “And I’m Daniel, but you can call me Dan,” the dragon salt man said.
“And, uh… her?” I asked, pointing down at the wolf curled up with a bad stomachache.
“She likes to be called Minerva.”
“Cassy, Dan, Minerva,” I said, pointing to each in turn.
“So, what e
nemies are you talking about? Did they have big claws? Owl heads? Snake bodies?”
“As far as I could tell, they were some religious organization. They sent a dude out to grab me when I left the university.”
“That’s several layers of impossible,” Daniel said, leaning back.
“Yeah, first, how’d they even know you were a part of us? I mean, it’s not like regular humans have mind-reading powers!” Cassy said.
“Second, we can’t have enemies who are humans because most of what we do is fighting magical beings underground. Part of the reason we’re here is to cap a portal that would allow entry into our world.”
“Finally, werewolves aren’t vampires. It’s not a holy activity to hunt down a werewolf. We’re like your neighbour who’s a bit more hairy than normal. Like, who does that?”
Minerva barked at the end of his statement, and Daniel shifted uncomfortably. “Well, they can’t know any of us are gay.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the Bible literalists who hate gay people, but I had managed to catch a few Bible studies with a cool group on campus, and they were pretty nice people. I wondered absentmindedly about whether or not any of them could be mixed up in this.
“Wow, Minerva must not like religion much,” I said, biting my lip. “But, like, there was that guy who attacked Silvia. What if they’re from the same group?”
“That guy couldn’t have informed his friends about you, according to Lorenz’s account, anyway.”
Gavin came out with a plate of homestyle fries and looked around the table. “Oh, Elizabeth,” he said, clearly confused as to why I was here so early.
I held out my hand for the fries, and he handed them to me. “Sorry, I thought they were for Daniel. I spiced them up the way he likes them,” he said.
I looked down at them, and they seemed perfectly fine to me. “I should be okay. Thanks for cooking them!” I said, remembering to be polite.
“You don’t look so good. Did something happen?”
“She was apparently attacked,” Cassy said, lifting her head to look at Gavin upside down.
The Stray Human: A collage age urban fantasy with werewolves, werewolf community center book 1 Page 5