Forgotten (In The Shadows, Book One)

by Catherine Gardiner

  “Suzanne, where are you?” she whispered into the night.

  Fifteen

  Finding Suzanne on the porch swing with Flopsey on her lap, Emily asked, “You okay?”

  “Hmm.”

  “You look pensive,” Emily continued, sitting down next to Suzanne on the swing. Emily handed her friend a chicken salad sandwich. “I thought you might like a snack.”

  Suzanne smiled, the appreciation not quite reaching her eyes. “Thanks. I’ve just been thinking about stuff.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not really,” Suzanne sighed.

  “Suzanne, all this pent up anger isn’t good for you. When was the last time you hunted?”

  “What has that got to do with anything?”

  “Because you need to feed.”

  “Feed?” She picked up the sandwich and waved it, bemused. “I’ve got this.”

  “I meant as your wolf self.”

  “And what will happen if I don’t?”

  “If you don’t feed soon you’re going to get more and more aggressive until the wolf completely takes over! You’ve been a werewolf long enough to know that!”

  “Emily, stop with the scare tactics.”

  “Suzanne! You know I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Okay, I admit that I do feel more edgy than usual – but that is because Marcus has been acting like a jerk lately, not because I haven’t been feeding.”

  “Suzanne,” Emily said sternly, moving from the swing to the porch step. “You need blood.”

  “I’m not a vampire!”

  “Animal blood.”

  “It’s a common misconception, perpetuated mostly by vampires, that werewolves only drink an animal’s blood. We actually normally go for the liver, but we would eat the heart and lungs too, as well as drink blood.”

  “Ewww,” Emily wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “That’s no worst than what you do when you feed.”

  “That’s different.”

  There was a silence for a while, before Suzanne asked, “Emily?”

  “Yes?”

  “When you followed Starr last night, did she lead you anywhere?”

  “I wish I could give you good news, but when she hit the wood at the edge of town she changed into a wolf and we lost her.”

  “You’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but I’m going to go after her myself!”

  “Suzanne, she nearly killed us yesterday and we still don’t know why you couldn’t change. Please reconsider this!”

  “I need to do this.”

  For a moment Emily stared at her. Then she shook her head in disappointment and returned to the house.

  They don’t understand, but I’ll show them, Suzanne thought as she ran a hand over Flopsey, stroking him gently. She stood and placed her rabbit back in his hutch.

  Sniffing the air carefully, Suzanne detected the faint lingering scent of Starr’s cheap perfume carried by the breeze. Looking at the fence that surrounded the backyard, she gauged its height. There would be no need to change into a wolf to climb over the eight-foot high fence this time. So, taking one final look and giving a heavy-hearted sigh toward the house, Suzanne ran at the fence and scaled it in one jump, swung from an overhanging branch, before landing, and heading through the neighbors’ backyards in the direction of the woods.

  “Where’s Suzanne?” Marcus asked as Emily walked in alone.

  “Probably still on the porch swing,” Emily replied.

  “She’s not,” Jonathan said from the doorway.

  “What?” Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  “She’s not out there. I was out there a moment ago and she’s gone,” Jonathan clarified, walking into the room and sitting down.

  “Then where is she?”

  “The hell if I know!” Jonathan put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “I thought that she was grounded or something.”

  “She probably came in and went straight upstairs,” Marcus said, attempting to reassure Emily.

  “No, Marcus. We would have heard her; it is Suzanne we’re talking about here,” Emily reasoned.

  Marcus leaned against his desk, his brow furrowed. “You’re right. So if she’s not outside and she’s not upstairs, where else would she be?”

  Emily bit her bottom lip apprehensively. “Well, she did mention that she wanted to go after Starr. But Suzanne is not that stupid, right?”

  *

  Jessica was in the kitchen, sat at the table eating her breakfast, when Katrina arrived. Katrina ignored her; instead she went to the fridge to her milk for cereal, and the cranberry smoothie she had had to have twice a day since leaving the hospital.

  “So have you reconsidered telling Mom and Dad?” Jessica asked.

  “I haven’t changed my mind.”

  “But …”

  “Jess, you promised!”

  “I know, but you’re in danger! You’re being stalked.”

  “I got one note and one crank call. I don’t count that as being stalked and neither will the police.”

  “But you got attacked!”

  “Change the record, already! All I want to do is forget about it and get on with my life. The only thing from my past that I care about is finding Suzanne.”

  “I meant it when I said that I want to help you,” Jessica said, “but we don’t have anywhere to start from. She could be anywhere.”

  “Well.” Katrina paused and sat down at the kitchen table to think. “She’s younger than me, so she’d be in school.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Flustered momentarily, Katrina’s mouth flapped before she managed to say, “I can’t explain how I know; I just do.”

  Jessica frowned. “How much younger?”

  Katrina rubbed at her temples uneasily. “I wish you would stop asking me these questions that I can’t answer.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Katrina took a sip of her smoothie. “Er, yeah. Sorry. I’m just trying to remember Suzanne’s age and it’s giving me a headache. And I never feel like myself in the morning.”

  “You remember what Doctor Clairmont said about remembering stuff, right?”

  “I know, I know; I’ll remember when I’m good and ready, so I shouldn’t strain myself.” She sighed, got to her feet and began to pace the kitchen. “Jess, what am I going to do?”

  “I’m here for you, okay? No matter what,” Jessica reassured her. “Right, enough with all this negativity and tears! If we want to find Suzanne we need two things!”

  “And what are those?” Katrina asked, sitting back down.

  “A positive attitude and a small army.” Jessica grinned. “Seriously, though. You need to keep upbeat.”

  “That’s easier said than done. Where do we start looking?”

  Jessica frowned. “I suppose where all this began …”

  “The football field at Clayton Falls High School,” Katrina finished.

  “Yep. Do you feel up to going back there?”

  “No, but if going back will help me find Suzanne then I’ll go. I’ve got to!”

  “Okay. Well in that case, let’s go now.”

  Katrina felt a knot develop in her stomach.

  “You okay?” Jessica asked as she saw the look of discomfort in Katrina’s face.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Jessica stood up and headed for the door. “I just need something from my room. I’ll meet you outside in ten.”

  After Jessica had left, Katrina quickly finished the rest of her cranberry smoothie and added their used breakfast things to the growing stack of dirty dishes in the sink. She stopped to look around, noticing how safe and normal everything was. Her eyes moved from the sink to the milk that she absentmindedly found herself putting back in the fridge, to Shelby sleeping peacefully in his basket, to the two squirrels she watched scampering across the backyard through the kitchen window.

  Everything’s normal apart from me, Katrina thought. Then:
Stop it! Jessica said be to be upbeat and that’s what I’m going to be.

  Shaking away her thoughts, Katrina collected her favorite denim jacket from the hall closet and went outside to wait by Jessica’s car, an chili pepper red pearl 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4x4, that was parked in the driveway.

  As Katrina waited for Jessica, she felt the small hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and had the feeling that she was being watched. Nervously, she looked up and down Ridgefield Drive, the tree-lined street that the Sinclairs lived on; it was almost deserted apart from a large gray dog that was looking at her from across the street.

  Jeez, I’m so paranoid! No one’s watching me or going to jump out from behind a bush to attack me, Katrina thought. I wish Jessica would hurry up though!

  Looking again, she spotted the dog further up the street. It had gone behind a tree.

  “I can see why you would find that tree across the street so fascinating!” a voice said gently in Katrina’s ear.

  Katrina jumped and let out a little yelp in surprise.

  From behind her, Jessica laughed, “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

  “I didn’t sneak up on you,” Jessica replied with a grin.

  Katrina gave herself a mental shake. “I guess with everything that’s happened recently I’m still jumpy.”

  “I know that you’re nervous; you always overthink things. But I’m with you every step of the way and the sooner we start looking, the sooner we’ll find Suzanne,” Jessica said. She climbed into the driver’s seat of the car and wound down the passenger side window. “Are you coming or are you just going to stand there all day?”

  No reply.

  “Katrina!” Jessica called, more loudly this time.

  “Um – sorry, I guess I wasn’t listening.” Katrina opened the passenger door and climbed in.

  Jessica pursed her lips and eyed her foster sister, her car keys in her hand as she paused before turning on the ignition. “You’d tell me if something was troubling you, right?”

  Katrina turned from the window back to Jessica. “It’s nothing.”

  “Katrina?”

  Katrina bit her bottom lip. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

  “I already think that!” Jessica joked.

  “Jess, just look out of the window.”

  Jessica fixed Katrina with a puzzled look, but she obliged, and angled her rearview mirror to point where her foster sister had been looking, searching for the cause of her angst.

  “What am I suppose to be looking at?” she asked.

  “That dog across the street. Right outside the Shepards’ house!”

  Jessica turned the mirror to a different angle – but still nothing. “I don’t see a dog.”

  Katrina turned and pointed. “That dog …” Her words trailed off. She frowned.

  Jessica arched her right eyebrow “As I said before, what dog?”

  “There was a dog and it was watching me!”

  “Dogs don’t watch people.”

  Katrina started to rub her temples.

  “Maybe you should go see Doctor Clairmont again?” Jessica suggested.

  Tears sprang to Katrina’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “You think it wasn’t real? That I’m seeing things?”

  “Katrina, you know—” Jessica began, but before she could finish, Katrina opened the passenger side door, jumped out, and ran toward the front door.

  Jessica slammed her hands into the steering wheel. “Well, you handled that brilliantly,” she muttered to herself.

  Sixteen

  Suzanne stopped running when she realized that she was in an unrecognizable wood. Tall Redwoods and Oaks surrounded her and the woodland floor was covered with sweet smelling pine needles. The dawn sunlight dappling through the trees made the woods feel ethereal and dreamlike.

  I wonder how far I’ve run, Suzanne mused, looking in the direction that she’d come from. Have I really been running through these woods most of the night? It seems longer.

  The wood was still and silent, but something told her she was not alone. She sniffed the air and was greeted by a familiar scent.

  Suzanne unconsciously licked her lips, anticipation making her mouth water. She took a step forward, then another, hunger and instincts propelling her forward.

  The scent was stronger now.

  An animal. Something big.

  Suzanne licked her lips again. She could hear the animal’s heart beating.

  She smiled and crouched to pounce.

  Then it stepped out from its cover. It was an adult male deer. Suzanne prayed it hadn’t sensed her.

  Suzanne edged closer, so close that she could hear its blood pumping loudly in her ears.

  Another step –

  A twig crunched underfoot and reverberated through the wood, causing Suzanne to curse to herself.

  The deer looked up, startled, but didn’t move.

  Suzanne relaxed minutely in relief before her shoulders tensed – and then she sprang.

  The deer screamed in surprise and fear.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Before the deer could make another sound, Suzanne clamped her fangs into its throat and wrestled it to the ground.

  The deer thrashed its legs and head, thrust at her with its antlers, but effortlessly she avoided being hurt without letting go of her prey.

  When the deer’s fighting had subsided, Suzanne eased her grip and began to drink the warm, coppery blood. Suddenly, she stopped drinking and scrambled away, trembling.

  I killed a deer! I actually brought it down all by myself! she thought, looking at its corpse. As Suzanne stared at the deer’s lifeless body, an unwanted feeling inside her stirred.

  And then, like a bolt of lightning, something blossomed in her.

  Fear.

  Undiluted, bone-chilling fear.

  Oh, God! What have I done? Suzanne thought, horrified. I killed this deer, but I’m still human. Emily was right: I’m out of control!

  Tears burned in her eyes, rolling down her face. From her shock, Suzanne did not feel them. Her thoughts were erratic.

  Why am I acting like this? Maybe I should go home. No, I left for a reason. But what was it? Oh, yes, that’s it! I was following someone!

  Nausea hit her and she pivoted away – but the taste in her mouth and the overpowering smell that invaded her nostrils still assaulted her, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t get the awful image of the deer out of her head.

  I need to wash this blood off me, Suzanne thought quickly, and get away from this place.

  Overwhelmed, she began to run again through the woods, her legs pounding over the broken branches that littered the woodland floor. When Suzanne finally stopped, she realized that cold water was surrounding her.

  Water?

  Suzanne shivered and found that she was standing in the middle of a narrow river.

  Why the hell am I standing here? Suzanne thought, mystified, I’d better get out of here before I catch pneumonia.

  She turned and strode out of the river – but something caught her eye. She stopped.

  Her reflection.

  Suzanne stared with disbelief, her body trembling in shock. She closed her eyes and tried to gather her thoughts, but when she opened them again she was confronted by the same face looking back at her: not that of an attractive sixteen-year-old girl but that of a wolf. The only thing that remained of Suzanne’s human self was the silver locket around her neck.

  When did I change? Suzanne thought in confusion.

  Still in shock, Suzanne waded out of the river and sat on the bank to think.

  What’s happening to me? First, I couldn’t change into a wolf when Emily needed me yesterday, and now I’m a wolf and I don’t remembering changing into one!

  “Blondie!” came a menacing voice from the trees.

  Suzanne looked up and scanned the area around her. There was something familiar about that voice …

  “Blon
die!” the voice repeated.

  Narrowing her eyes, Suzanne emitted a low warning growl to the disembodied voice.

  “Is that the best you can do?” the voice said with a laugh. “No wonder Katrina left you!”

  Suzanne gave another warning growl. Something about the voice made her angry and she could feel her savage wolf instincts start to take over.

  Suddenly Suzanne remembered who the voice belonged to.

  Starr.

  Even the mere thought of that girl’s name made Suzanne bare her inch-long fangs in an angry snarl.

  “I see you haven’t forgotten me.” There was a smile in Starr’s voice.

  “How could I forget?” Suzanne growled.

  “Oh, that’s good! It’s so much simpler when the person you’re going to kill remembers you,” Starr said casually.

  “Kill me?” Suzanne started laughing.

  “Stop it!” Starr screamed, stepping from her hiding place. Her eyes were black.

  “What’s wrong, Starr? You don’t find your own joke funny?” Suzanne said between laughing fits.

  “I’m not joking!” Starr’s voice was icy and cruel.

  “Okay then, if you’re not joking then I suggest that you show me just how you’re going to do it, because I’m very intrigued to see you try!” Suzanne replied, her voice equally as icy.

  Starr leaned against a tree and smiled again. Putting her hand in her jeans pocket, she withdrew a silver pistol and aimed it at Suzanne. “I was thinking I’d use this but it’s not that intimate.” She paused. “Besides, I really want to see the fear in your eyes just before you die.”

  For a second Suzanne considered the silver gun and the likelihood of it containing silver bullets or not – and then she started laughing again.

  “What’s so funny?” Starr demanded.

  “You can’t kill me with that!”

  “And why not?”

  “Oh, I’m really going to tell you!” Suzanne’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Yes!” Starr replied, arrogantly.

  “And why would I do that?”

  “Because I’ve got a gun pointed at your head, that’s why!”