“Yes.” He said, and those eyes never vanished. They stayed like that. They looked like someone was flickering a lighter up in front of each one. It was that noticeable. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. I need you to show me your rash. I have to see it.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
Suddenly her front door crashed open, and there stood a big man with long black hair. “I’m sorry, Fen. Roy wouldn’t stay in the car.” She could hear another man, who looked…a lot like this Fen guy, only shorter. Fen? The guys name was Fen?
She remembered then, that they were the men who were standing outside in the parking lot. They too, stared at her.
“Show him the damn mark.” Roy blurted out. He definitely was not one for conversation, eh?
“It’s not a mark.” Faye finally spoke, and her hand came to the hem of her tank top. Last thing she wanted to do was get half naked in front of three strangers, who were all barking the same tune. “It’s just a rash.”
“Show it.” Roy pointed.
Sighing heavily, she finally looked down and brought the material up, just under her breast. This time, she were not wearing a bra, and this time, she was not bringing it up over her breasts. When she saw the mark, she gasped, because it had indeed grown. But not just that, it appeared to have some sort of design in it.
Just like Fen’s.
She wasn’t sure what kind of design work it was, but for some reason, she felt like she would know soon enough. “What’s…happening?” She asked, and looked up at all three of them, with a worried expression on her face. “What’s happening to me?” She reached out with one hand, pointing at Fen’s. “And why does it look like yours?”
Suddenly, Fen turned and cursed out something very harsh. His hand came to the door frame, and a loud crunch could be heard. She watched as wood and sheet rock began to crumble. And then he disappeared out the door.
“Look. Honey, what’s your name?” The nice one spoke - the one who was not constantly making orders like the big scary one. He came up to her in a tender manner.
She continued looking at her door frame in shock. But she managed to muster a word. “Faye.”
“Alright, Faye? I need you to listen to me.” He turned and glanced over at Roy, who scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He muttered a I can’t believe this, before turning on his heel and going after Fen. “Faye. We will tell you anything and everything you want to know. This, I will give you my word on.” He stood in front of her, now facing her, and blocking her shield of vision when it came to her damaged door. “But right now, you need to come with us. We have somewhere we need to be, and you need to be with us when we do.”
He paused for a moment, allowing Faye to let it all sink in. Something was wrong, she thought. Something was badly wrong. She gave him a questionable look.
“Where we are going, will fix this problem. And then afterwards you will be able to go on with life, like normally. But not until we do this.” He gripped her shoulders and looked down at her. All she could do was do the same, looking up at him with glistening eyes. She felt like she wanted to roll into a ball and cry. She nodded. “I need you to pack some things. We are not entirely sure how long we will be there, so pack well.” She nodded, feeling shocked. She couldn’t really say anything because she didn’t even know what to say. She wasn’t sure how to take all of this, but she slowly turned on her heel and made her way down the hall, however, not before she heard that man speak again. “And while you are at it, you need to find your passport.”
◆◆◆
“Calm your-fucking-self.” Roy said in an aggravated tone. “If you don’t, you’re gonna lose it and by god, if we get another shift I’m gonna-” Roy came up to the vehicle, and Fenrir looked up from having rested his head on the top of the car. “I’m gonna personally kick your ass, in front of the whole goddamn pack, and steal your girl.”
“Don’t fuck with me right now, Roy. I’m not in the mood for your shit.”
“Oh it’s not fucking with you, it’s the fucking truth that’s what it is. And I will. So get your shit together.” With that said, Roy hopped into the drivers side. They all had taken Sam’s car, which was a four door SUV. It was a relatively large van that Sam thought would have been good for a family. Yet it was tiny when three werewolves were piled in it.
Roy did have a point. One more shift in one week would bring more than a few people worried about the safety of their live stock. Yet he couldn’t help how he felt. The entire time he stood out there, all he could think about was his mate.
And not the one back home.
The one who stood in that tiny cozy house, who just so happened to be a goddamn human.
Who just so happened to make his blood boil. The one who got under his skin. The one who made him think about taking her right there up against her wall. And he would have, if matters weren’t so goddamn pressing.
And he hated himself for that. He hated the fact that he wanted a human so much. Human’s and his kind did not mix, and that was why his kind did not spend much time where human’s mingled. His father - whom he thought was the smartest man on earth - was the most idiotic now, for putting that damn club together.
When he noticed the two of them coming out of her home, he finally jumped into the passengers side. When they had arrived there, he sat in the back with Roy. Not this time. There was no way in hell he’d be stuck in the back with that girl.
He hated these mixed feelings. He desperately just wanted to get on with his life.
The drive to the airport was a silent one. Not a single person talked, not even the girl. It was awkward, and in a way, he liked it that way. Fenrir would have hated if she started asking questions now, at a time as persistent as this was. Yet, he found himself to be shocked that she wasn’t asking questions. You’d think she’d have a whole head filled with them. Yet she sat back there, behind his seat, quiet as a mouse. He could feel how she felt. She felt troubled. She felt worried. She was…shocked. The shock was so stuck on her, that he was sure none of it had really sunk in. But he knew that when it did…there would be hell to pay.
They booked a flight real easily, and was quickly making their way onto the plane.
◆◆◆
Fen and, whom she quickly found out was his brother, sat more towards the back of the plane. Faye and Roy were forced to sit more towards the center. With this being a very emergency, middle of the night flight, there weren’t a whole lot of people booked that night. Faye was sort of thankful, because in a way, she was already spooked about being around crowds of people, but her night was already crap as it was.
She settled into her seat, and buckled herself in, as she sat there and looked out her window. She’d flown twice in her life. Once, to go to Italy for a course to take, and then coming back to the US. As nervous as she was around other things in life, flights did not bother her, surprisingly.
Sitting up more straight, she looked over the back of her seat, and noticed the two others way back in the back. She’d also noticed that Fen was staring directly at her. She couldn’t tell if it was with disgust or interest, because he had some mixed signals when it came to her. Not wanting to press with confusion, she made herself sit more comfortably in her seat.
Roy had not spoken to her. Not at all. But when the flight ascended, she could tell that Roy was not accustomed to flights. Not at all. His hands gripped at the arm rests, and he seemed as if he were about to hurl. His chest rose and fall rapidly, and he breathed harshly through his nose. She suddenly felt the need to comfort him, and found herself doing just that. Reaching out, her hand gripped over his big arm, that laid flat along the arm rest, and squeezed tightly. “Breathe. Not fast. But slow.” She spoke calmly, and the side of her head was pressed to the seat, as she watched him cautiously.
Once the plane straightened out, and turbulence subsided, Roy yanked his arm free from her grasp, and grumbled under his breath.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, now unbuckling
herself, because everybody else was doing the same. “I was just-”
“Listen here, girl.” Leaning in, Roy looked her square in the eyes, and spoke low so that it was only them hearing what he had to say. “I’m going to be honest with you. I already don’t like you, and I don’t think I will ever like you. So let’s keep it at that, shall we?” He paused for a moment, and his glare struck her like a thousand knives piercing her heart. “Do not talk to me. Do not even glance in my direction. Does all of this stick?”
Her jaw ticked. Honestly, she wanted to cry. It were moments like these that made her hate being out in the open with others. She always feared the unknown, fearing that someone would indeed, hate her. And this Roy made it all too very known. “It sticks. Like glue.”
“Good.” He mumbled, before he straightened back into his seat. He grabbed a magazine in the netted cubby from the back of the chair in front of him. He opened it, and pretended to read it, pretending as if what he said didn’t stain her.
It did stain her. It hurt.
All she wanted to do was go back home. She wanted to see Lily, and she wanted to see Noct. She had this funny feeling, that if Noct were here right now, Roy wouldn’t have been able to let that first word slip from his lips. She found herself smiling at the thought. Oh what she’d give for Noct’s kind heart and sweet words. Hell, she’d jump right out of this plane right now, if it meant she could go back home.
Alive, that is.
And then she wondered, how she even got herself in this situation in the first place? Why had she even agreed to doing this? Of course, she and Fen had the same kind of mark. And it immediately made her realize that there was something…odd about all of this. Duh. That is quite obviously. But odd, as in…non existent, odd. Something unreal with a lot of truth. There was something so weird about this, that Lily herself would laugh at her in disbelief if she told her.
And Lily was into all kinds of weird.
The flight was long and draining, that Roy himself had to shake her awake when it ended. After they retrieved their bags, they were escorted to a vehicle, that they had no doubt rented and had delivered to this very airport. “Keep an eye on the map.” Roy stated, while behind the wheel. “I don’t want to miss anymore turns than I need to.”
“I’ve got it.” Sam scoffed, annoyed that Roy would think of him as that irresponsible. This time, Faye sat in the back with Fen, and it was very damn obvious he recoiled from her. The seething anger was practically bubbling from his pores, so she did not bother asking him any questions. For damn sure though, she would eventually get her answers.
There were two questions that bothered her the most. Why had his eyes flickered, the way they did? And why did they both don the same type of mark? This also led to one big question. What was he?
Or what were they?
The drive was nearly an hour long one, and the questions were practically screaming at her by the time that they arrived at their destination. It was a tiny cottage-like home, buried deep in the woods. It was one hell of a drive alone just from the road to this single spot. There were way too many wind chimes hanging from the the edges of the roof, that it made her wonder, whoever the hell was living there, how did they get any peace and quiet? There were an abundance of planter pots sitting about, some with vegetables and fruits, some with flowers, and some with wilted whatever you call them.
“This must be the place.” Sam said, before sliding out of the passengers side. Fenrir jumped out just as quickly, and Faye was pretty sure it was because of her. Did she stink or something? Was she really that big of a problem to him?
“It sounds pretty quiet though.” Fenrir stated, and she thought she’d seen him inhale the air around him. “I don’t think anyone’s been here in days. Weeks, even.” He proceeded to walk on up to the door step.
Faye finally got out of the back seat, and closed her door. “Maybe whoever lives here is out of town.”
Roy scoffed, and glanced back at her. “Hey. What the hell did I tell you back there? Keep, your mouth, shut.”
“Roy, you pipe it down, will ya?” Sam grumbled, before making his way up to the doorstep right along with Fen. “She did leave a note though. Says she wont be back until the 21st.”
“Which is seven days from now.” You could hear the annoyance in Fenrir’s voice when he realized that. “But she did say if it’s an emergency to call this number.”
“I’m on it.” Roy shoved passed them, whipped out his phone, and dialed the number. He made a quick bee line to a line of trees, completely out of her field of hearing. Faye was forced to stand there, and lean against the edge of the car - on the side facing towards the house. What else could she do? “Alright.” Roy returned, and was already placing his phone into his back pocket. “Let’s get our bags. She said we can go on in, and that there should be a key outside.”
“A…key?” Sam was looking around him. “Well where the hell did she say this key was?” Truth be told, there was so much clutter on the porch one wouldn’t know where to begin.
“Hell if I know. She just said a key.” Roy opened up the back door, completely disregarding that Faye had been standing there the whole time, so she had to move. Looking back towards the house, she knew what she had to do. While the men were so busy bent half over and peering through the grass, she walked on up between them, onto the porch. All she had to do, was look under two potted plants.
“Here.” She said, now holding out a key. “My mom’s house is a lot like this…I mean…the clutter is.” Sam took the key from her hand, muttering a thanks, before hastily unlocking it.
The interior of the house, was much like the outside. Cluttered. Books, many many many books, some old and some new, were stacked up all over the place. The walls were wood paneled and the floors were hard oak. One look at this place you would think that it was seriously outdated, but when she looked up and saw the ceiling fan, she knew different.
“Man. Lily would absolutely adore this place.” Faye spoke aloud, as she came to stand before what appeared to be an old school witches brew. Funny thing was, she wasn’t weirded out by all of this stuff.
“Lily?” Sam asked as he followed behind her.
Faye looked over her shoulder briefly, with a small smile. “Lily is my best friend.” Turning ahead, she reached out and touched the edge of the black iron bowl. “She claims she is this hardcore witch but…nothing I’ve ever seen her do, actually worked.” That, she found herself chuckling about.
“Hm.” Sam simply said.
“She said don’t touch a thing.” Roy’s barreling voice came through the front door. This immediately made Faye bring her hand back down to her side. So much for exploring the coolness. “She said there is one bedroom we can use. As well as the two couches. But the back bedroom is off limits.” Roy headed right passed her, around a corner and down what appeared to be a small hallway. The three followed him. “You guys can figure out where you want to sleep, but I’m taking one of the couches. This place smells like old grandma, I can only imagine the bed does too.”
So what made him not fight about the couch?
He dropped the bags on the floor, and Faye took in the room. It was definitely small, and could only fit a full sized mattress. The walls looked just the same, and there were some odd ornamental pieces hanging from them. Obviously some owning to some cult of some sorts. She suddenly felt weird about being in this house.
“Faye can have the bed.” Sam said, bringing in his own bag. “We can keep the bags in the bedroom so that it’s not so cluttered in the already, over the top, cluttered living room.”
“We should probably go and grab some previsions somewhere.” Roy finally stated, before disappearing from the room. There was one thing that Roy didn’t do, and that was hover. He apparently didn’t care for confrontations, or making conversations.
“That’s a good plan.” Sam said, and followed along with him.
“I will go with you guys.” Fenrir responded, and went after both of them.<
br />
“No.” Sam said. Despite Faye still being stuck in that bedroom, she could clearly hear what was being said. “You need to stay here.” He spoke low, but it was no use. She heard everything. “You need to be here, because if she goes off, then you are the only one who can find her.”
What was that supposed to mean?
“So you’re telling me, I need to be stuck here with her?” Fen replied, and the sound of voice meant he definitely did not want to do that.
“She is yours.” Roy said. “Now lets go, Sam. I don’t want to be too long.” And then there was silence. Nothing else was said between the three men, and the front door could be heard, as well as the car outside starting up. She went to the bedroom window, and watched as it drove off. Did they really not trust her? She did, willingly, come along, right? It wasn’t like she put up much of a fuss, if any at all.
The Call of the Moon Page 7
