Replacement

by Wojciech Cram

  To boot, she was also a half shifter. When she needed to, if things were going down badly, she was stronger and faster than a regular human. She was, by leagues, still weaker

  than a vampire, but she could still take a lot more physical punishment than a regular human could and live through it. She had better than human smell and hearing, but her vision

  was barely considered standard, a curse of her human genes. There was no ethereal beauty or power that screamed 'Night Worlder'. She looked and appeared completely human.

  Because of that ability, her capability to soak of damage and heal quickly, and her acting talent, Daybreak had often said that if Bethany could change her shape and use telepathy,

  she'd be a perfect agent for them.

  Bethany, at fifteen, still could not change her shape, nor could she use telepathy. She didn't mind not having telepathy. Not being able to shield her mind was another matter. It was

  increasingly becoming a liability that someone could read her mind and see the trap and the whole thing would be blown. But it had its upsides too; Nicolas usually kept a mental

  link with her to keep an eye out for trouble and know when to come in. Besides, trying to use telepathy made her nose itch.

  Though she tried to convince others that she didn't mind not being able to change her shape, no one believed her. That was one act Beth couldn't pull off. It did bother her. Whenever she looked in the mirror, she felt a pang of sadness that opened up a well of insecurity. Daybreak called her a shape shifter, but she wasn't, really. She couldn't be a

  shape shifter if she couldn't change her shape.

  The cafeteria was crowded and noisy. School cafeterias were always crowded and noisy. It was the result of having so many teenagers crammed together into a small space. It

  was, however, an almost unbearable situation when you were a shape shifter. The smell of Bethany's lunch was drowned out by perfume, cologne, and the other odors people

  doused themselves in to cover up their true scents. The noise was another matter entirely. Beth continued to pick up bits of conversations from other tables. She didn't particularly

  want or care to know how Elizabeth's date went or where Justin got his new pants.

  Biting into her ham sandwich, Beth tilted her head to read the headline of the on the front of the Victorian newspaper. In shockingly large letters it screamed: LOCAL MISSING GIRL

  FOUND DEAD. Bethany sighed and shook her head. "That's the second girl found this month alone. There were four similar murders last month."

  Kotori pushed her juice over to the side and opened the newspaper across the table so that Beth could see the second part of the article. "She was found without any blood in her.

  People are still debating if it's murder or suicide."

  Beth regarded her best friend inquisitively. "If it's found without blood, it's obviously the vampires," she muttered, her voice low so only Kotori could hear her. "Why would the

  police be dumb enough to think that it was a suicide? Don't we have anybody on the inside who's aware that vampires exist?"

  For a moment her best friend's face lit up into a smile. "Actually, I think Daybreak has a lamia on the inside. No, it's because of how the girl was drained of blood. There's no bite marks on her, Beth. Her wrists were found sliced. The only problem is that…"

  "They didn't find any blood at the crime scene, just like the other murders."

  "Yes. And because of that, they know someone moved the body…"

  "They just don't know if whoever moved her was an accomplice to suicide or her killer." Beth sighed as Kotori nodded. That was the problem exactly.

  Kotori had been Bethany's best friend since they had met in grade school. The competition had sparked between them immediately. In grade school, they had always been trying to

  do better academically than the other, and Beth had traditionally come out on top in the mathematics and the sciences. When it came to English and anything physical, however,

  Kotori could easily beat Bethany. When Bethany had joined Circle Daybreak, the friendship which had thrived on healthy competition became entrenched in partnership.

  Taller than Bethany and slender, Kotori seemed Bethany's opposite. She was Japanese, and Bethany thought she was beautiful. Her hair always seemed to stay in place and was

  always healthy looking, while Bethany had to try and tame her hair down to beat out the static. She was envious that Kotori was developing right on schedule and the boys paid her

  compliments to try and get into her good graces. Kotori was the better fighter, and had the ability to shift. While Beth was not jealous of Kotori's ability to fly, she wished she could

  know the freedom and euphoria Kotori experienced in shifting.

  Both of them were partners with Nicolas Rappaport. While Bethany played the bait, whenever they worked outside during the daytime they got Kotori to work as the lookout. As a

  hawk she had the perfect view from everything up in the sky in the daylight. More than once had Bethany's life been saved by Kotori's sharp skills. Beth, in all honesty, was hoping

  that she never needed to return the favor.

  "Does it mention her name?" Bethany inquired, still munching on her ham sandwich. She couldn't stand the taste and the feeling of it in her mouth and had covered it in Delistyle mustard to try and cover up the gritty taste of the processed ham. It made Beth's stomach churn to think that some part of her yearned for fresh, raw meat when she lacked the

  ability to actually process it.

  "Melissa Bell."

  Bethany froze midchew. She swallowed. The food felt like a rock as it slid down her throat. "Melissa Bell? I… I went to school with her. Goddess, I… I never even knew she was missing." Bethany put down her lunch. It was no longer appetizing. Her green eyes were wet with tears and compassion, and yet she couldn't bring herself to cry and openly mourn

  for Melissa. The two of them hadn't spoken since Melissa's parents had moved to Nanaimo.

  "You know, she was a werewolf. She left the year before you came to school, Kotori. I was always trying to figure out why Melissa was able to keep running with the boys in gym

  class. It was because she had this ingrained instinct to run. I think that's why they ended up moving. You could see that the city was killing their family. They longed for the

  outdoors, so they moved outside Nanaimo."

  Kotori could understand their disgust with the city. Victoria was a beautiful town, but she had adapted to it. She was a scavenger and could live anywhere there was fresh meat. A

  wolf was completely different. Mostly the people who lived inside the city were those who could survive within it: raccoons, ravens, smaller birds of prey like herself, even skunks

  and porcupines. The larger animals like the bearshifters or the wolves tried it but often found it was too cramped, noisy, and smelly for them to stand for very long.

  "I knew the last girl they found," Kotori said. She was always softspoken, but Beth could feel the growing pity and curiosity in her voice that had given it a murmuring cadence.

  "She was a shape shifter, too."

  Beth's head lifted. Her eyes locked with Kotori's brown ones. Both thought flashed between them at once. She nodded. "The first boy that they took was a bearshifter. He must

  have been as easy target. Apparently he was homeless."

  "They're getting them from everywhere: Victoria, the interior…"

  "They? We still can't rule out that there's… something getting the shape shifters to kill themselves. But yeah, I agree. They. This reeks of the Council. The vampires are up to

  something, I know they are. We should call Nick, tell him our theory."

  At the mention of the cute vampire, Kotori's cheeks immediately began darkening. She fumbled in her back pack for her cell phone and pushed it across to Bethany, avoiding her

  friend's gaze. "You call him and tell him. I… I want to finish reading the article."

  Beth often won
dered why Kotori became so nervous around Nicolas. She wondered if maybe it was because he was white. She knew that Kotori's parents were a little… adamant

  about the kinds of friends that Kotori kept. They didn't like her hanging out with white people, or humans, or certain other shape shifters… or boys. Kotori's parents had said that

  she was not allowed to date until after high school. Nor did they like her hanging around Night Worlders.

  Nicolas was a Daybreaker, white, a vampire and a boy. They were damning marks against him. Bethany wondered if maybe Kotori avoided any contact with Nick that wasn't related

  to Daybreak work because was worried about offending her parents.

  Kotori was already going to be in enough trouble if her parents found out that she was a member of Victoria's Daybreak chapter. If they knew that her superior officer was a Jewish

  Caucasian male vampire, then Kotori might be grounded until she was too old to be eligible for dating.

  The phone ringing in her ear broke her stream of thought. "Rapapport."

  "It's Beth."

  Nick yawned in the phone. She heard him move, stifling a groan. "Beth, it's noon. What are you doing calling me so early?"

  Her mouth set itself into a thin line. "Poor Nicolas, getting woken up at noon. You don't hear Kotori or I complaining when you keep us up to two in the morning and we still have to

  be at school for eight am, do you? What time did you go to bed that you complain about being woken up at noon?"

  "Seven am. I got called in… have you read a newspaper lately?" Immediately he seemed more awake. He spoke quickly whenever he became excited. "They found another body. I

  got called in to work the scene with some of the other senior guys… I was planning on calling you and Kotori after school. Is… is Kotori there with you?"

  Beth arched an eyebrow. Kotori, still blushing furiously, was leaning across the table to try and overhear Nick's portion of the conversation. "…yes."

  "Good. Listen, the girl that they killed was a…"

  "Shifter. We know. I went to school with her. They were all shifters, Nick. That's our theory."

  "Not all of them were, Beth. Two were human. All the others, you're right. With the exception of a human male and one human female, they were all shape shifters of some kind or

  another. Someone is targeting shape shifters. They dumped the body last night. Looks like they're going to need another one soon. We've determined their MO is to pick up one as

  soon as they dump the other. We just don't know why it's taken them a week between bodies. And frankly, I don't want to know. We have one shot at doing this, and the sooner it

  is, the better. Daybreak's ordered everyone out, each with a different section of the city. Can you and Kotori skip the rest of the day?"

  "Kotori'd be missing a test next period."

  "Fine. Go to third. You know what Daybreak says. School comes first with you two. There will always be enough time to save the world, but high school only happens once. We'll

  swing by. Meet us around the block behind the school between third and fourth. I'll fill you two in on the plan as we go."

  Without another word, he hung up. Beth turned off the cell phone feeling a little dejected. Nick was a nice guy, but when work got in his way he often forgot his manners. He was

  probably already busy calling the rest of the team to get them assembled for their meeting.

  Kotori was frowning, but there was a hint of laughter in her almondshaped eyes. "Damn. I was really hoping to get out that science test."

  Standing at the corner of the intersection, Bethany pulled her sweatshirt closer to her, as if seeking a comfort in the soft feel of the fabric. She was, for the first time in her life, the

  lookout, and she did not like the feeling. The bad guys—whoever they were—were after shape shifters. Kotori was playing the bait, as Bethany lacked the signs and behavior typical

  of shape shifters. Bethany had instead been assigned to the role of lookout. She had been ordered to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious or looking like trouble. Kotori's

  safety, Nick had been sure to make absolutely clear, was in her hands.

  Beth was already worrying that she was going to fail and Kotori was going to get hurt.

  They were in a dangerous end of town. The hunched old man with the brownwrapped bottle clutched tightly in his hand across the street made her even more worried. She didn't

  like the neighborhood. It was dirty and filthy. It wasn't safe for her. What if she got accosted? What if a drunk started to bother her? What if… what if a lot of things.

  Kotori stood down the street. Daybreak's team had taken away the jeans she had been wearing and the red blouse, replacing it with ripped and torn acid wash jeans and a black

  hoodie too large for her. They had taken her exquisite hair and had done it up messily with a bandanna, marking her as some kind of a gang member. She no longer looked like

  Kotori and Beth didn't like it.

  Daybreak had given Beth the same outfit; different gang. They said they wanted Kotori to look like a better target by ensuring that there was no one there willing to help her. A

  rival gang member would be more willing to help take her down than to come to her rescue. Now all they had to do was wait.

  An hour passed. Beth leaned against the wall behind her. Her legs actually hurt from standing for so long. Kotori was still standing, showing no sign of wear. The fall night was

  growing colder.

  "My Mom's going to start getting worried when I don't show up for supper. Someone call her for me and explain the situation, please?" Beth said into the microphone hidden in her

  hoodie sweater.

  Already taken care of, Beth. Eliza sends her love and promises to have a hot supper waiting for you with a hot chocolate. Nick's voice was amused as his thoughts drifted into her mind.

  "Are you making fun of me for liking hot chocolate?" she demanded.

  With the way you crave sugar, I'm surprised you haven't moved on to coffee by now, Nick said. We'll give it another hour. That's how long Kotori can stay out before her mother

  gets suspicious. If she asks, you and her were helping each other study at the school library. Typical cover story, Beth. This is really going to piss off the boss. We were really

  hoping to nab them tonight. Now we're just going to have to wait until the next body shows up and they need another victim. Do you see anything suspicious at your end?

  "Let's see… the drunk across the street appears to be snoring. Two guys just stepped out of the Mac's down the street a little. They bought smokes, it looks like. There's also a lady

  of the evening…"

  A prostitute.

  "Prostitute sounds so uncultured," Beth complained in her defense. It was her report. She'd call them what she wanted to call them.

  It may to you, but hearing you say 'lady of the evening' makes it sound like you're too much of a prude to call them a prostitute. You sound like you really are twelve when you say

  it like that. At least I didn't suggest that you call her a whore.

  "Bite me," Beth spat, irate. She was cold, sore, and hungry, and now her commanding officer was ragging on her for her choice of words. Beth didn't have the patience to argue

  with him. "Give me four. The guys with the smokes have decided to light up right behind me."

  This is a bad neighborhood, Beth. I'm sending Alicia over there to give you some cover incase the natives become aggressive.

  Bethany let out a small sigh of relief. Nick was always watching out for her and Kotori. It was nice to have someone like that in charge of the team. Nick recognized that there was

  safety in numbers. No member of his team was insignificant to him. Beth would work better knowing that she had a woman who could turn into a bear there to watch her back.

  "She looks dumpy," one man noted. Beth's cheeks flared. Were they calling her dumpy?!

  "Yeah? So?"<
br />
  "Well, how do you know that they'll like dumpy? Maybe they'll choose to ignore her based upon her looks. I'm telling you, we need a virgin Native American. If anything will make

  their blood boil, it'll be the death of someone like that—a death that they should have protected and defended!"

  One of the men laughed. Bethany heard a click. The smell of a menthol cigarettes drifted towards her. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. "You're a fist class guy, Louis. It's bad

  enough taking girls off the street, but now you want us to catch our own women and hurt them. Then what? We'll wake them up and all their anger will fall down on our own heads.

  I don't think so. Take her. The kid is working on analysing the texts still. Maybe by the time we take his one back to the 'shop, he'll have figured something out. Then if she's not

  right, we can just exchange her for another one."

  "Can't we just keep her? I don't need my organs bloody. You and Emile could have a meal of her first and then Zhi and I could join in."

  Bethany froze. Her skin was ragged with goose bumps. They were talking about killing and eating girls. They were talking about Kotori. It was them! It was the people she was

  supposed to look out for!

  "Nick? Nick!" she hissed into the microphone, moving away from the men and trying not to look conspicuous doing so. One of them sounded like a vampire. That was the one

  smoking the menthol; the one who could 'have a meal' of Kotori. The other one seemed to be a shape shifter or a werewolf of some kind. That was why he liked organs. Shape

  shifters had to have a regular supply of fresh meat to remain powerful…. Bethany didn't want them to over hear her conversation, and both vampires and shape shifters had

  supernatural hearing.

  She ducked around the corner of an alleyway, parallel to where Nick was hiding. Leaning against the wall of a brick building she shoved her hands in her jean pocklets, trying to

  look casual. Down the alleyway she heard a rat knock something over as it scurried away. "Nick, damnit, they're right behind me. The guys with the smokes! It's them!"

  Stay where you are, he told her quickly. We need them to make the first move to make it an official arrest. I'm pulling Alicia back. Don't engage in a fight unless it's absolutely