by D. N. Hoxa
“What’s a girl like you doing in this shit hole, Gia?” Rick said and rested his elbows on the counter. I wiped the back of my hand against my jeans as hard as I could. Maybe his saliva wouldn’t smell as bad as I feared.
“I’m actually looking for someone,” I said in my sweetest voice.
“Have you found him?” he said and raised a brow.
“Maybe,” I said with a wink. “When do you get off?”
His cheeks flushed instantly. “At dawn,” he said. Thank God.
“Well, then we can leave here together if you tell me what I wanna know.” Could he tell that I was lying through my teeth? I usually dealt with humans when I told lies, so I wasn’t sure.
His smile froze. Maybe my flirting game wasn’t as good as I thought it was. Damn it.
Rick straightened his shoulders. “And what’s that?”
“A girl. She used to come here a couple months ago. Not sure if she’s been around lately,” I said and leaned closer to him. Too bad I’d worn a plain black shirt with no cleavage. That could have worked to my advantage.
Then, Rick laughed. “I ain’t no snitch, lady. Go do your dirty business somewhere else,” he said and turned away.
“Hey, it’s not dirty business, I swear!” I called, but he didn’t care. He was already at the other end of the bar, talking to a customer. “Shit!” I spit, and when the woman next to me turned to look, I realized I’d said it out loud. I raised my bottle to her. “Shit happens,” I mumbled, and she immediately looked away.
The beer was at least cold. I drank half of it while looking at Ricky, hoping he’d come over again, but he didn’t.
“You all set?” the pink-haired witch said, making me jump. I hadn’t seen her come in front of me.
“Yes,” I said, letting go of a long breath. “Where’s your toilet?”
I wasn’t going to try to flirt information out of her this time, but I could look around the place, try to pick up Izzy’s scent.
“Right over there,” the witch said, pointing at the end of the room. There was only one door across from the bar.
“Thanks,” I said, and pushing the beer bottle away, I stood up and made my way to it. I walked slowly, sniffing the air every now and then, searching. Other than getting myself ready to throw up, I didn’t get anything.
The toilets were a mess. It looked like everyone who went in there made it their mission to miss the toilets. Both the men’s room and the ladies’ were a mess of toilet paper, cigarette butts and water (probably piss). I wondered how people used these toilets without getting an STD. Just standing there made me feel infected already.
When I realized I was going to have to smell the air in there, too, I almost cried. Gritting my teeth, I sniffed as lightly as I could, but it was still too much. Yep. It wasn’t water. Ninety percent of it was urine. I turned around to leave when a bear of a man stepped into the narrow corridor that separated the toilets. He was in a hurry so he knocked me over into the wall, and I accidentally drew in air through my nose.
And I smelled him.
He smelled…different. A werewolf, but there was a scent on his clothes, something very close to an animal. An animal I hadn’t come across yet. Or maybe a bunch of animal smells together? He walked into the men’s room and slammed the door shut, but I couldn’t move for a few seconds. Why was that smell so strange? Had I imagined it?
Only one way to find out.
I stepped out in the bar again and sat down in one of the three empty tables closest to the toilets’ door. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach.
The werewolf was surprisingly quick. Maybe he couldn’t stand the smell in there, either. But as soon as he walked out, I let go of my breath and sniffed hard.
I had definitely not imagined it. The smell hanging on his leather jacket was that of an animal—a strange kind I’d never smelled before. But something like it, something close but not quite, had been on Izzy’s shirt, too. He didn’t stop by the bar. He made for the exit right away without bothering to even look to the sides.
Jumping to my feet, I followed. The smell made me very curious even though it wasn’t exactly like Izzy’s. It made my wolf very curious, but the way her emotions were intertwined with mine, it was very hard to tell who was feeling what most of the time. Nevertheless, I went with it. I followed the werewolf outside. He was still alone, walking down the street to my right. I rushed my steps—he was a big man and very fast—to get close to him and to smell him once more before he disappeared, just to make sure I wasn’t imagining this. I could already smell his trail and followed my nose instead of my eyes when he turned the corner and crossed the road, jogging. A black car was waiting for him there with two other people inside. I sniffed hard and almost threw up. The car reeked of the same smell.
I ran to it, not caring to even try to hide from them, but by the time I made it across the street, the car was already gone. Mine was on the other side of the neighborhood. If I went to get it, could I still follow them in time?
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered to myself. I couldn’t follow their scent while they were in a car. Which was why it was so much easier to find animals. They didn’t drive fucking cars.
It was a dead end. I couldn’t follow them on foot, either. And besides, it didn’t matter that they smelled strange, unlike anything I’d smelled before. I was there to look for my sister and maybe too much breathing through my nose had messed up my sense. Maybe Izzy's shirt didn't smell like this at all. I had turned to go back to the Big Bad Wolf, when I took in a deep breath to calm my racing heart. And I smelled that stupid smell again.
It was coming from the building right behind me.
This time, I didn’t bother to breathe through my mouth again.
The building was three stories high, and the first was made out of glass. Thick white blinds were drawn from the inside, and the door was locked. There was no sign on the outside, and there was nothing I could see through the blinds. But I could definitely smell that animal smell clearly. Since the building was at the corner of the street, it was easy to find my way to the back. The narrow alleyway that separated it from the next building smelled of werewolves, too. There was a light at the end of it, and when I walked deeper, they became two. Car lights. A second later, the roar of the engine told me that there were people there, too. I should have turned back while I had the chance, but my legs took me closer and closer to what looked like a black truck. There was no other light in there, and the shadows shielded me perfectly. I pressed my back against the wall and walked sideways, taking in deep breaths every few seconds.
Two werewolves were in the car—and the fourth was coming out of the back door of the building. This last one smelled like the guy from the tavern—strange animal mixture.
“Come on, man! We’re late,” the driver said, slamming his hand on the car’s door while his friend locked the back door.
“No, we’re not,” he said.
“Are they gone?” Another guy said, this one sitting on the truck. It was too dark to see the faces. I couldn’t make out anything except their silhouettes.
“Yep. They’re already on the way to the Palace. It shouldn’t be long now.” The guy finished locking up and turned for the car. I had to get the hell out of there.
“So we’re early?” the driver asked, a bit disappointed. I began to move back to the street.
“We’ve got time for a beer, then we’re off,” the wolf said. “Tonight’s going to be huge, guys. The boss will be very pleased.”
The tires screeched. The driver put the car in reverse and hit the gas. There was no way I was getting out of there in time—unless I ran.
That’s exactly what I did. And if they saw me, I’d just keep on running. Thank God for the darkness. I made it out the alley and turned the corner around the building before the car drove out. They didn’t stop. They didn’t look like they were searching for someone. They hadn’t seen me.
I let go of a long breath. That had been close.
Not to mention stupid.
Enough of this nonsense. What the hell did I care about a strange smell and some werewolves in an alley? I was here for Izzy, and I was going to go search for her. Pissed off at myself, I made my way back to the tavern and did a full circle around the entire building. I worked with animals. I sucked at searching for people. Too easily distracted. And my wolf was on edge, more so than usual. She was awake and watching. Waiting, though I had no idea what for.
Half an hour later, I had to admit to myself that Izzy hadn’t been around that place in the last couple of days. The best I could do was come back every night until she made an appearance. Until I caught her scent. My father was going to be disappointed. He was disappointed in me a lot before. My mother, too. When I brought home my school grades. When I got into fights. When I sneaked out at night to go hang out in the woods. She hid it well, though. I couldn’t tell how she felt until I was a teenager.
This time would be no different. I’d give Finn a call tomorrow and ask him for Dad’s number. I’d call him and tell him that I’d found nothing, but that I’d continue to search. Every night. Until I found Izzy. Which might well never happen.
When I got back to my car, I regretted having come out tonight. I was tired and pissed off at way too many people. It didn’t help that when I sniffed her shirt once more, I got a hint of the same kind of smell as those werewolves. Spicy. A lot of spices mixed together, though Izzy’s were a bit different. A spell, maybe? Same magic, different spells, and it also smelled like animals. I tried to tell myself that I was wrong, that too much had happened in too little time, but my wolf wouldn’t have it. She left no doubt in my—our?—mind: it was the same kind of smell.
What the hell was the Palace? Where were those guys going?
It couldn’t hurt to check, could it? Just a quick search on my phone.
No, it didn’t hurt at all. And according to the application, the Palace in Jersey City was an apartment complex right by the Hudson.
See? It was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
And it would take me less than twenty minutes to get there.
So…what was the worst that could happen if I just drove there?
That very thought seemed implanted in my head. It was my own voice but not my own thought. It was my wolf. She was curious. Very curious about that smell on Izzy’s shirt. What kind of an animal smelled like that? What kind of magic smelled so spicy? I knew how all kinds of magic smelled, but this was a mix I’d never encountered before so I couldn’t be sure. Maybe, if we went to check this place, we could see it with our own eyes. We weren’t going to find Izzy tonight, anyway. And maybe this would help me get better at this investigation job. Experience. I was gathering experience.
And with that foreign thought in mind, I drove myself to the beginning of the end of my life as I knew it.
The Palace was a ten-story apartment complex by the Hudson River with five wide buildings standing back to back. The faded yellow color of the facade made it look old, but the windows were brand new. It was unusually quiet close to the entrance. I parked the car by the complex’s sign and got out, sure that I’d find nothing here. What would a bunch of werewolves want with a place like this?
But then I sniffed the air, and I caught the scent. That stupid scent. It wasn’t as strong as it had been on those guys back in the City, but it was there. I smelled it. My wolf growled, freezing me in place. The terrifying sound took hold of my thoughts and kept me prisoner, and I waited. I waited for the pain.
It never came.
She didn’t want to come out. Not yet.
Letting go of a long breath, I slowly walked up the four stairs that led to the buildings. It was quiet out there. Lampposts every few feet and no guards anywhere in sight. I spun around and searched with my eyes, but other than the sound of the pitch-black Hudson at my side, nothing moved in that place. So I turned to my nose.
The first building was clean. I walked close to the entrance door, and inside I saw a receptionist looking at his phone, a few people standing in the lobby, talking and laughing. Human. There was no strange scent close to that building.
I moved on to the next. No scent there, either. Or the third.
But at the fourth, I felt it everywhere. There was definitely something inside.
I walked close to the entrance door and looked through the glass. No receptionist. No people. Would the door open if I tried?
It did. The smell hit me anew, making my stomach turn. I already knew I was batshit crazy for walking into this place, but believe it or not, the decision wasn’t entirely mine. My gut was in on it with my wolf. They both propelled me forward into the lobby—the only one of the buildings with the lights turned off. But I could see in the dark just fine with my nose. So I sniffed and found my way to a door in less than five seconds. It was the fire door.
I pushed the heavy, white door open and the strong light blinded me. The stairway was wide, white, and very clean. I closed the door behind me and took a second to calm down.
The scent was coming from downstairs. Maybe the parking garage? I had no idea what was down there, but that didn’t stop me from descending those stairs. With shaking hands, I reached for one of my kitchen knives. Whoever was down there, they weren’t going to be happy to see me if they did.
The scent took me to a floor below—and to a door, identical to the one above. It was getting so strong, it was impossible to keep breathing through my nose.
But as soon as I opened that door, I didn’t need my nose to guide me anymore. I could hear the voices clearly. I could hear the gunshots.
I could hear the growls.
I ran down the dark corridor with my heart in my throat. I hadn’t been wrong. There were animals down there, and people were shooting at them. Not good. Not good at all. It was only a matter of time before my wolf demanded to be let out and took matters into her own hand.
At the end of the corridor, there were three doors in a square hallway, and the one in the middle was open. I was so certain I’d see hurt animals and men with guns shooting at them.
Instead, I saw four wolves ripping apart the three men who were trying to shoot them dead.
I’d never seen anything like it before. My wolf hadn’t seen anything like it before. No longer able to run, I walked toward the door, blinking away the blur to make sure I hadn’t seen wrong.
I hadn’t.
The smell of spells was heavy, but the smell of animals was worse. The smell of those four wolves. The room was round with no windows, with two doors in the wall across from me. It looked like an apartment—or what was left of it. Broken glass, torn furniture, pieces of wood everywhere. The wolves had cornered the three men right across from the door, and they attacked them every few seconds. The men were trying to defend themselves, but it was no use.
As I watched, confused as hell, the guy on the left tried to shoot at a wolf, but the wolf jumped to the side and bit the man in the ankle, dragging him to the middle of the room. And then he tore the man’s neck apart.
Even my wolf was speechless. This didn’t normally happen. Animals didn’t go into apartments to kill people. People went to the woods to kill animals.
So what the hell was this?
When the second guy ran out of bullets, and the wolf fell onto his chest, my body unfroze. I couldn’t let this happen. Yes, I helped animals, but these animals had to be stopped.
The man in the middle, the only one left standing, had begun to chant a spell—a Blood spell—when I stepped into the room.
“Stop!” I shouted with all my voice, still unable to properly process what was happening.
Everybody stopped. Even the witch no longer chanted. He pressed himself against the wall and watched me, terrified. And the four wolves turned to me, too. Their eyes were dark, their furs matted with blood. They weren’t big by any means, and they looked to be ordinary wolves, but I had no clue how they’d found their way to Jersey City.
I stepped deeper into t
he room until I was between the wolves and the witch.
“That’s enough,” I said to the wolves, needing to understand the look in their eyes. “Leave, right now.” And when they left, I could talk to the witch and ask him what the hell was going on. Why were wolves in Jersey City, in an apartment building, killing people? I couldn’t wait to get to that part already.
But then something…impossible happened.
The wolves didn’t leave like I’d asked them. Instead, they began to approach me, and bared their teeth.
“What the fuck?” I asked, as if I was expecting them to answer. “What are you doing?”
I’d done this since I was a kid. Even bears didn’t dare approach me. My wolf’s scent was too powerful. They smelled it on me, and they retreated, no questions asked. And animals always obeyed me.
Well, until now.
Because these wolves didn’t care about who I was or what I smelled like, not like others I’d met before.
“Hey!” I shouted, scared out of my mind, a second before they attacked me. “Stop!”
I have no idea how I managed to raise my hand and swing my pathetic kitchen knife at the wolf’s face. Without realizing it, I had backed away and was against the wall now, the dead body of one of the witches right by my feet.
No matter how many of those I saw, it never got any easier. The witch standing next to me was chanting again, the words of his spell bringing shivers down my back as the wolf came for me again, and I swung my arms as fast as I could. His paws were faster. He tore the skin of my forearm apart before jumping back, leaving me panting, even more scared than before.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I said to my wolf. This was the first time in my life that I asked her to come out. She was the only one who could save me now. The only one.
But she was not…there. I couldn’t feel her. She’d retreated to God knows where, but I was sure she was watching. She was just watching these wolves try to tear me apart.