by Jeff Sampson
The nearer we came to the end of the hallway, the louder the partyers became. I could still hear the Bubonic Teutonics playing their generic alt-rock music in the den, punctuated by the occasional excited bark from Max and a cheer from the adoring crowd. Much closer were the video gamers, shouting about kill shots.
Just before we could turn the corner and make our way to the front door, four girls appeared, silhouetted by the lights behind them. It took me a moment, but then I realized it was Nikki Tate in the lead with the Delgado triplets backing her up as usual. Nikki and Amy both had their arms crossed. Brittany, the sister with the most makeup on and the hoochiest outfit, examined her nails. Beside her, Casey Delgado held her arms behind her back, her face unreadable.
Oh, but Nikki’s and Amy’s feelings were written on every pore. I was officially getting tired of these girls showing up to scowl at me all the time. I mean, seriously.
“Dalton,” Nikki said coolly. “I have been looking for you all night. This is supposed to be your party and we had your cake delivered and we’ve been waiting for you to show up to serve it and actually appreciate all these people who came out to celebrate with you.”
Dalton grunted behind me.
I stepped forward, crossing my arms to match Nikki’s stance. “Hi, Nik.” She was looking past me at Dalton, clearly pissed. I snapped my fingers, and, taken aback, she finally looked at me. “Yeah, hi. Dalton, Spencer, and I are busy. With … projects. And it sounds like everyone here is having a grand old time without their guest of honor. So if you’ll just let us through.”
I made to pass Nikki, but Amy stepped up next to her, blocking my way. “What is with your attitude, skank?” she spat at me.
“Seriously,” Brittany muttered, now checking out the nails on her other hand.
Nikki’s face had gone red at this point. She dropped her hands to her side, balling them into fists. Her lower lip trembled. I’d never seen her so mad.
“I do not get you, Emily Webb,” she said. “You don’t talk to anyone for years, and then you decide you suddenly want to start talking to boys, and for some reason you just have to start with my boyfriend? Why are you always around sneaking off with my boyfriend?”
So the girl was upset. Uh, understandably, Daytime said in the back of my head. But really, if anything it was Dalton who had been all over me the past few days. And I was so damn tired of this basic high school drama.
So I leaned forward and said, “Maybe if you were a better girlfriend, he wouldn’t have to escape from you with me, now would he?”
Nikki gasped. And in a flash, her hand shot through the air, palm aimed to slap me on the cheek.
My own hand darted up, instinctively catching her by the wrist, just before she made contact. She tried to yank her hand back, but I held on tight, glaring into her eyes, demanding her with a look to just back off.
“You did not!” Amy shouted. She made to lunge at me.
And then somewhere in the house, a girl began to scream and voices rose. Amy stopped moving, and she and her sisters turned toward the sound of the commotion.
Spencer grabbed my sleeve. “It’s Tracie,” he said.
I let go of Nikki’s hand and gestured for Dalton and Spencer. They dutifully followed as I moved past a stunned Nikki on her left. Casey stepped aside casually, letting us pass.
We forced our way through the crowd in the living room, most of its inhabitants not paying attention to the sounds of a girl clearly in distress. Great guys. But I could hear Tracie clearly, shouting demands and screaming, sounding on the verge of tears.
Behind me, I heard one of the triplets shout, “You are not getting away that easy!”
I ignored her.
We shoved our way through the kitchen and dining room and finally back into the den. The Bubonic Teutonics had stopped playing, and Jared was now near the front door, trying to grab onto the flailing girl that was Tracie Townsend. She backed away from him, her eyes wide and frightened. She heaved gasping, sobbing breaths and clawed at her hair. Her headband was all askew.
“Hey, what is it?” Jared was asking her. “It’s all right, it’s all right. Did you take something? I’m a police officer.”
“No,” Tracie sobbed. “No! Leave me alone! I have to get out. I have to get out!” She shoved Jared in the chest, and he careened backward, barely maintaining his balance.
I leaped forward and grabbed Jared by the delightfully large bicep. “I’ve got this,” I said. “She’s a friend. She’s … claustrophobic. We just need to get her outside.”
Without my having to say anything, Dalton and Spencer went to either side of Tracie and grabbed her by the arms. Spencer was whispering something in soft, lulling tones, and Tracie seemed to stop freaking out as much. She gulped, and tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she was no longer thrashing.
Everyone in the living room was staring at the girl as Dalton and Spencer began to guide her outside. Behind me, I heard a few girls gossiping and giggling.
“Oh my God, do you think she’s on meth or something? Like that’s how she gets all As?”
“Oh, totally. ‘I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so … scared!’”
“I don’t get it.”
“Ohmigod, I am so showing you that on YouTube later.” I rolled my eyes.
Jared tried to rush past me to follow the guys leading Tracie out, but I placed a hand on his chest. “I’ve got it, really,” I said. “We’re going to take her home.”
“You sure?” he asked me.
I stepped back and crossed my chest. “Hope to die. Well, not literally. You’ve got your groupies waiting.”
He nodded at me. “Call me if you need help.”
Jared Miller. What a Boy Scout.
I left the giggling crowd behind and went through the front door. There wasn’t anyone out here now; all the kids were somewhere inside. The lawn was dark, barely lit up by the lights from inside and the few streetlamps. I saw Spencer and Dalton walking Tracie toward Spencer’s minivan.
Pumping my arms, I jogged across the yard and came to stand in front of Tracie. She was no longer crying, but I could still make out the shiny tracks down her cheeks. She was breathing steadily, but her limbs were trembling. Spencer still whispered in her ear.
She was so upset, Tracie Townsend. I felt the other sides of me both rise up then—Daytime and werewolf. Both hurt for her. I couldn’t stop from feeling it.
“Hey,” I said, coming in close. “Tracie, it’s all right. I told you this morning, we’re like you. We know what you’re going through. You’re safe.”
Swallowing, she looked up at me. “No,” she whispered. “I’m sick. I’m very sick. For the past week and half, night comes and my brain breaks. Everything around me goes out of order, and nothing makes sense.”
“But you’re not sick,” Dalton said.
She ignored him. “Everything I look at is wrong. I don’t understand what’s happening to me. I think I’m schizophrenic. I think I’m imagining all of this.”
I thought about our changes. About what they unlocked. For me, all the wild inhibitions I kept hidden deep down. For Dalton, his anger. For Spencer, the laser focus he couldn’t harness during the day.
And Tracie, who was Spencer’s opposite in that way. Who by day had every aspect of her life completely under control. I couldn’t imagine what the shift did to her. Couldn’t imagine what it felt like to lose all sense of order.
“I am very sick,” Tracie said again, looking at the ground now. “No one can know. No one.”
“But you’re not sick!” Dalton said, letting her arm drop and stepping back. His brow tightened. “We’re superheroes now, Tracie. We can do anything. I don’t know how you can’t understand that!”
“There are no superheroes,” she said. “Or maybe there are here. I don’t know!” She looked between me and Spencer, tears forming once again.
“Shh, it’s all right,” Spencer said to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and for
a moment I felt a twinge of jealousy. Stupid. He was just helping one of my pack. As he should.
“Hey!”
The shout echoed across the yard and into the street. I stepped past Tracie, leaving her with Spencer to continue whispering whatever it was he was whispering to her. Shadowed on the front porch were Amy with Nikki and Brittany behind her. Casey was nowhere to be seen.
Amy stomped toward me, arms swinging at her side. “I told you we weren’t finished,” she said. As she grew near, she aimed her hand at my chest like she was about to push me.
I marched toward her, smirking. “Well, too bad, because I’m finished with—”
But instead of hitting me, Amy raised her arm. And I rose with it. I gasped, shocked as the ground disappeared and nothing was beneath my feet but chill night air. Everyone below—Dalton, Tracie, Spencer, Nikki, Brittany—stared at me hovering fifteen feet in the air.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Dalton asked. “You can fly?”
“I’m not doing this!” I shouted, my voice shrill.
It was Amy’s turn to smirk up at me. She flicked her hand, and I dropped. The ground hurtled toward me, but I landed easily in a crouch and then was back on my feet.
“Amy!” Brittany hissed, coming up behind her sister. “You know we’re not supposed to do that.”
“Let her,” Nikki commanded. She came to Amy’s side, glaring daggers at me. “I am done acting nice to this boyfriend-stealing bitch.”
“Whoa,” Dalton said, looking between his girlfriend and Amy.
“What is happening?” Spencer asked.
“None of this can be real, right?” Tracie murmured. “None of it.”
But it was. And I remembered then all the little, seemingly innocuous things I’d seen Amy do. That day at the hospital I felt someone shove me, only to turn around and see Amy at the other end of the hall, her hand raised. In Dalton’s dining room two days ago, a flick of her wrist making the back of my head prickle.
The bitch was telekinetic.
Balling my fists, I tightened my jaw and looked Amy square in the eye. “Oh, it’s real all right. Looks like we’re not the only ones in town with superpowers. Which means there’s no need to hold back.”
I leaped forward, tensing back my arm, my fist aimed at Amy’s jaw. She blinked in surprise, not expecting my speed.
And it was Nikki’s turn to raise a hand. It felt like someone tackled me in my chest as I fell backward, sliding across the grass, the wind knocked out of me.
“Leave her alone!” someone shouted.
Megan.
I looked up from where I lay on the ground and saw her racing toward the tussle. Some other kids were streaming out the front door, too, hearing the noise of our impromptu smackdown. I could make out Megan’s new friend Patrick, hanging back, watching her leap into the fray.
Megan slammed into Nikki, sending her flying sideways, though the girl kept her balance. Megan made to jump her again, her hands arched like claws, her nails ready to scratch Nikki’s eyes out.
“Megan, don’t!” I shouted. I jumped to my feet and ran to get between her and a raging Nikki.
“What do you mean don’t?” she said, exasperated. “These bimbos were shoving you, and everyone is just standing around watching! I saw it!”
“You don’t know what you saw.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Amy’s hand rising, her palm aimed toward Megan. My arm shot out and caught her by the wrist. With a twist of my forearm, I forced her hand down. “Don’t you touch her,” I snarled.
Amy smirked once more. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“What’s going on out here?” another voice shouted from the front door. This time it was Deputy Jared, and more and more kids were spilling onto the lawn, cups and snacks in hand, taking in the show. Some boys were chanting,
“Catfight, catfight, catfight!”
Amy yanked herself free from my grip and stepped back, hands raised in the air. “Nothing, Officer Miller,” she said sweetly. “Just a slight disagreement between girls.”
I glared at her. “Yeah, Jared. I’m fine.”
He came between us and looked at us both. To Nikki, Amy, and Brittany he said, “Why don’t you girls go back inside?” Then, to me, “Aren’t you taking your friend home?”
“Yeah,” I said, finally tearing my gaze from my new archrivals to meet his blue eyes. “We were before we got distracted.”
“Okay, well, get on it then, Emily,” he whispered to me as the cheerleaders headed back toward the house. “No one here’s supposed to know this, but Mr. McKinney hired me to keep an eye on the place as well as play with the band, so I can’t have people going nuts.”
“Aye, aye, Officer.”
He smiled and patted me on the shoulder, then went back toward the front door himself. I remembered a week ago how attracted I’d been to him. But with Spencer by my side, he felt more like a big, protective brother. A super-hot big brother, but still.
Megan immediately ran to my side, grabbing my hands, inspecting my face.
“Are you okay?” she asked me. “Those whores didn’t hurt you, did they? Where are your glasses? Did they break your glasses?”
“I’m fine,” I said, yanking myself free of her. “I promise you. And I don’t want you trying to get revenge or whatever, either.”
“Excuse me for trying to defend my best friend!”
I couldn’t deal with this right then. My gut began to boil over with anger. I had plans. I had a mission. We were supposed to be at BioZenith already, discovering why we were werewolves, looking for any information we could find about the shadowmen. I did not have time for the addition of high-strung, psychically powered cheerleaders. I did not have time for an overly needy best friend who just couldn’t get the hint when I needed to be away from her for a little bit.
“Yes, excuse you!” I shouted back. “Look, Reedy, I’ve got a lot to do tonight. I don’t have time for any more high school nonsense. So go back to the party or go home, I don’t care, but I can’t be here right now. I’ll talk to you when I talk to you.”
She gaped at me, her lip quivering. I spun on my heels and marched toward Spencer’s mom’s minivan, motioning for the rest of my pack to follow me.
“What just happened?” Dalton asked me as he and Spencer guided Tracie into the backseat.
“Your girlfriend has been keeping some really big secrets from you, too,” I said. “Sit next to Tracie.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
I got into the passenger seat and Spencer started up the car, not saying anything but constantly looking in the rearview mirror to make sure the newest member of our pack was through the worst of her mental breakdown.
He pulled us out into the street, driving us at last to BioZenith. As we passed Dalton’s house, I looked out the window.
Megan still stood there in the yard, alone. Watching as I drove off, leaving her behind.
17
BREAKING AND ENTERING IS A CRIME
It was almost nine p.m. when we finally pulled onto the dark, empty street in the industrial district where BioZenith was based. As usual at this time of night, the buildings and parking lots were empty, save for a few cars here and there. Night janitors or someone working extra late in their office, probably.
But there wasn’t a single car beyond the fence surrounding BioZenith.
We drove down the street once, just to scope out the place. Seeing it as dark and empty as the night before, I had Spencer park in the lot of a building a little ways down the block. He shut off the engine, and we all leaned toward each other, except Tracie.
“Man, this is so awesome,” Dalton was saying. “I can’t wait to bust some heads.”
“Keep yourself in check, Dalton, understand?” I said. “I am so not in the mood for you getting all out of control again.”
“Again?” Spencer asked. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing, man,” Dalton said. “I’m cool.”
>
“If you say so.” Spencer turned to me. “What’s the plan?”
He was too close. His pheromones were coming after me again, invading my synapses. I recoiled—that sort of thing was reserved for Daytime. I wanted my head clear.
Spencer narrowed his eyes at me. “What is it?”
“We’re going in the way Dalton and I did yesterday,” I said, ignoring his question. “We tore open a hole in the fence behind one of the buildings. If it’s been sealed up, we’ll make a new one.”
“Breaking and entering is a crime,” Tracie said absently. She was slouched in her seat, her clothes ruffled, her headband still askew. She stared out the window at the empty parking lot. “Probably a felony of some sort.” Her brow furrowed. “Right? Perhaps the rules are different here in my head.”
“Well, if all this is in your head, Tracie, you can’t get in trouble, right?”
She sat up straight at that, glaring at me. “Are you mocking me? You expect me to run to you and beg for your help with my insanity, and you make fun of me?”
“Of course not, Tracie,” Spencer said, reaching back and grabbing her hand. “Don’t mind Emily. Or Dalton, for that matter. None of us can really control how we act at night any more than you can.”
Dalton unhooked his seat belt and opened his door. “Come on, let’s go already,” he said, jumping out to the pavement.
“You need to come with us, Tracie,” I said. “Someone could spot you in the car.”
“And inside is where we’ll find what’s making us all sick,” Spencer added. “Okay?”
Tracie nodded slowly, considering. But I knew she’d accept Spencer’s words. As far as I knew, he hadn’t spoken to Tracie much before today, and yet he seemed to know the exact way to break past her defenses, hack into her code, and get her to do what we needed her to do.
That could come in handy.
Finally, Tracie sighed. “Fine, I’ll go in. But I am in no way dressed for this. I don’t think, anyway. Dresses aren’t preferable for espionage, right?”
