“Darren’s here,” said Matt before heading to the door to unlock it. No one had said anything as they knocked, so it was surprising Matt knew who it was. As Darren entered the room and explained that Perry sent him in here to help finish Glacier, all I could think of was Matt’s excellent hearing that he had known who it was behind the door without having seen Darren beforehand.
CHAPTER 14
The rest of the day I was finding myself alternating between being eager to talk to Matt again while also terrified of being at work. I was out of my element being in the midst of beings that were supernatural. Instantly, all of my childhood notions regarding fact and fiction were blurred; things were no longer as they seemed. Even though at one time I probably would have been fascinated that monsters from stories were real, I couldn’t find myself anything but terrified.
I was far too quiet after speaking with Matt, unable to make conversation with Darren or Perry when the latter had come in to check how the room was coming along. Part of me felt Perry must have known I was now in on the little secret, for he looked at me expectantly. Perry never said anything; he only watched me, as if he were trying to gauge my reaction.
I couldn’t say anything to him. I had no idea what to say.
“Are you okay?” Darren finally asked a few hours later. I was only two hours from going home, so close yet so far.
It was a simple question that I didn’t have an answer for. I was most definitely not okay, but I didn’t know how to phrase it.
“How much do you know about the boy band?”
“Um…”
I shook my head. It was dumb to refer to the guys in my department as my silent nickname for them. In the comforts of my own head, I felt they resembled a boy band with their too-cool-to-care attitude. I decided to try again. I had to be careful not to say this name in front of the boys. “How much do you know about the guys we work with?”
Darren had to be in on it. He had to be one of them. How was it possible that he worked here in the winter but he had no idea that he was with a pack of werewolves? Darren cocked a brow before pushing some of his dark hair out of his eyes. “Not that much, just what I observe when I’m around them. They’re kind of lazy and stupid in my opinion. Er, why?”
I covered my face with both hands. He wasn’t in on this. That was why the guys in my department avoided him as well. They didn’t want to converse with someone who wasn’t among them. No part of me felt I could make it through the next two hours. I felt like I was losing my mind trying to wrap my head around things. Without another word, I left the room, leaving a perplexed Darren in my wake.
I clocked out immediately after I left Darren. I didn’t inform anyone I was leaving, either. Matt saw me exit the building, but he didn’t try to stop me. As unprofessional as it was, I didn’t inform Perry that I had left work until I was all the way home in the safety of my house. After locking my front door behind me, I sent a hasty text with a lame excuse that I had come down with the stomach flu and had been vomiting. Perry didn’t chastise me for not informing him while at work. A mere minute after I sent my text, he responded that he hoped I recovered soon. He even offered me to take the day off tomorrow.
If he weren’t secretly a supernatural creature who was a bit misogynistic in regards to having a female employee, he would be a really great manager to work with.
Simon came bounding down the stairs moments after I dropped my bag on the counter. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I chastised.
“Aren’t you?”
He had a point I couldn’t argue. I settled myself down at the table. “I can’t go back there.”
Simon frowned as he slipped into a seat across the table. “Why not?”
I explained all about the contract Perry had written up. How he knew about the guys as well as my being legally bound not to say anything. I tried not explaining about Matt, leaving out all that I could without having to think or talk about him.
“You can’t really be legally bound not to say your coworkers are werewolves,” scoffed Simon.
“I just can’t go back there. This is too much to deal with.”
“But how are we going to prove that the werewolf—”
“What is there to prove?” I loudly snarled, startling Simon with my sudden tenacity. “We discovered all of my coworkers are friggen werewolves. One of them is leaving dead animals on our doorstep, and the same one probably killed Mr. Thompson. What kind of horrible person are you if you force me to go back to that hotel and work with them?!”
I had never before screamed at my brother in such a way. It only showcased how clearly stressed out I was by the situation.
Simon nodded and quietly agreed with me, thankfully not pushing the issue further. Not long after that, I sent a polite text message to Perry saying I was quitting my job. I didn’t give an explanation as to why.
Perry didn’t reply, which made me believe he hadn’t taken kindly to my text. I couldn’t find myself caring. No part of me wanted to go back.
That night, I made round steak with a French onion soup topping. I went out of my way to make homemade mashed potatoes because it was a longer process that got me to think about the food and not about what was going on in life. At the end of the meal when cleaning the kitchen, I saved leftovers for Miranda. She wasn’t home yet, but that wasn’t surprising. She had been staying later at the office to finish up some type of project her company was working on. I then spent some time doing internet searches in different jobs since I was now technically unemployed.
A knock on the door came during my search, causing me to wonder if maybe Miranda was home and forgot her key. When I went to answer the door, I flicked on the patio light. I stupidly didn’t look before I answered. To my very great surprise, Cale was at the door. He must have recently gotten a haircut. His red hair was cropped close to his head, giving him a better appearance than his previous ridiculous style. Cale wore faded jeans, a Nirvana t-shirt, and a yellow jacket. With the casual ensemble along with the haircut, I nearly hadn’t recognize him. His eyes looked hollow, empty. I didn’t like the way he looked at me.
Cale spared me a small wave that I didn’t return. “What, no hello?” There was a smirk on his thin lips.
I simply stared at him, suddenly fearful of my memory of him the night of the party. Cale wanted to attack me, and if hadn’t been for Matt, he would have.
“I heard you quit.”
All I could do was give an awkward shrug in response. “Is this the part where you threaten me not to reveal what you are?” I didn’t know why I was always asking people what part we were at. I suppose because I felt like we were all trapped in our own wicked fairytale that would most likely have a horrible ending for me. There was no way I could know about the werewolves’ secret and come out of this alive.
Cale gave a gentle roll of his shoulders. “Nah. You would have said something if you planned on squealing.” All I could do was stare at him. I had no idea what to make of this new arrival. “Aren’t ya gonna invite me in?” He tilted his head to watch me. My head slowly shook at the question. I was not. Cale watched me with unblinking eyes. “You sure you want to quit?”
“Why are you here?” I didn’t want to exchange pleasantries or small talk. I didn’t like Cale as much as he didn’t like me. There was no point in us pretending otherwise. “And how do you know where I live?”
“Employee records,” he answered matter of factly. I didn’t want to know the how per se. I just wanted him to leave. Cale smiled. “I figured since you’re now in on our dirty little secret, you might as well join the club.”
“I would really prefer not to.”
At my quiet and polite response, Cale’s smirk grew. “What’s wrong, Everly?” he drawled, slowly expanding my name to sound longer than it actually was. “You don’t want a dose of immortality?”
All I could do was blink as I shook my head. This seemed like a very strange game, one that I didn’t know the rules for. I didn’t know what
to say or do; part of me suspected Cale only came to my house to mock me.
“Aren’t you curious?” he asked coyly, tilting his copper head to watch me. “Aren’t you wondering what it is we need to do to survive?”
“I take it you and Matt spoke,” I whispered, too afraid to raise the volume in case Simon were around to possibly overhear us.
“He was never going to allow you to join,” acknowledged Cale with a dark chuckle. He ignored my question, making me wonder if Matt hadn’t told him anything. Cale had just been in the conference center to overhear us. “Him and his nobility. I came to work early. I overheard you two. You neglected to ask the most important questions regarding what we are.”
“I…I don’t know what those are.”
“Ohh c’mon,” teased Cale, leaning himself against my doorframe. “You didn’t ask if we can only change on a full moon, and you didn’t ask what we need to eat in order not to age.”
At this point, I was becoming very afraid. There was no part of me that believed Cale came to my home to simply explain all my unanswered questions. He wanted to scare me. Worse, he was succeeding. “We change only at night, anytime, anywhere…” He smiled coldly. “There doesn’t need to be full moonlight.”
I was shivering from fear. He was having fun scaring me; that much was certain. I wanted to slam the door in his face and lock it, but I also felt compelled to learn more. “As for what we eat…” he teased, bracing both hands on the doorway as he leaned toward me. “We maintain a rather human diet, but we need something very special to maintain our immortality. Do you know what that is?”
Obviously, I had no idea what he was referring to. He didn’t come here to simply be helpful and shed light on the topic. My eyes were wide and unblinking as I struggled not to tremble. He was enjoying my fear. “The most vital part of the human body. The lifeline that everyone must have in order to survive. We feast on it to maintain our immortality,” Cale breathed, his eerie eyes also unblinking as he watched me.
“A heart,” I murmured, the guess coming to mind immediately.
“Exactly.” Cale smiled serenely. “The exact organ that was torn out of your neighbor.” My stomach dropped to my feet as my eyes widened. There was no way he would or should know such a thing. Cale smiled wickedly, tossing me a light wink as my eyes welled up with tears. I was terrified.
“Have a goodnight, Everly. We’ll see each other real soon.”
That didn’t sound like a threat as much as it did a promise.
CHAPTER 15
As soon Cale left, I waited by the front door for Miranda to arrive home. I didn’t know if he could possibly be lurking outside in the dark, sitting in wait to attack her. I didn’t know what to expect from him, so I expected anything. It was probably only paranoia to believe that, but I didn’t put it past him. Cale came to the house in what was clearly a move to intimidate me by showcasing that he killed my neighbor. There was truly no telling what he was capable of.
When Miranda finally arrived home and was safely inside the house, I quickly closed and locked the front door. She was grumbling about her bad day and paid no attention to my detail in making sure the door was secured. As I went about my task, my teeth were chattering as I gave thought to whether or not Cale was strong enough to break down a wooden door. According to forums, myths, and traditional werewolf lore in general, werewolves had enhanced speed, agility, and strength. It wasn’t irrational to believe Cale could break down the house’s standard wooden door if he really wanted to.
“Everly, are you even listening to me?” I gave a shake of my head to my sister as I quickly closed the blinds. Miranda looked annoyed that my attention wasn’t specifically on her alone. She made her way to the kitchen before pulling the leftovers out of the fridge. “Matt’s ghosting me. Has he said anything about me at work?”
That was a bit odd because Miranda and I didn’t usually talk about boys. Matt had been a taboo topic the two of us had avoided, but the mere mention of my supervisor got my head perking up, momentarily forgetting about the threat of Cale. I had a strange feeling of pleasure that Matt wasn’t talking to her.
“Uh, no.”
Matt said a lot of things today. He admitted he was a supernatural creature that was nearly a century old. But he didn’t mention my sister, and I was highly doubtful she would believe me if I told her the part of him being a werewolf. Miranda looked annoyed as she went through the process of spooning food onto her plate before setting it in the microwave to reheat. Even while pouting, she looked picture perfect, almost like a porcelain doll. It was hard to imagine she didn’t always get her way when it came to men.
“Unbelievable,” she breathed, taking the food out before the timer even stopped on the microwave. It was less than ten seconds. She went to the breakfast bar to settle herself onto a stool. “Not only do I have to deal with a crisis at work, but now I have to deal with game playing? As if.” Silence commenced, making me feel I needed to be the one to break it.
“Uh, since when has he been ghosting you?”
“Since Halloween,” muttered Miranda as she angrily stabbed a piece of steak with her fork. “He blew me off for a party we were supposed to go to, and he doesn’t reply to my texts. When he does, he’ll say that he’s been extremely busy.” Judging by her tone, I could tell she didn’t believe him.
She wasn’t wrong. I didn’t feel Matt was being honest with this, either. If he could spend earlier today listening to music while putting halfhearted effort into setting a room at work, he could send my sister a simple text message. But even as I thought this, I didn’t have too much care that Matt wasn’t talking to Miranda. As wrong as it was, I really enjoyed knowing that he wasn’t.
“Anyway, enough about me. How are things with you and that guy from work?”
My thoughts flickered to Matt and then to remembering Cale at the door earlier. Things were a tad complicated with the guys I knew from work. “Oh, you mean Darren,” I said with relief.
“Is there anyone else I would have been referring to?” Miranda giggled.
“I don’t know what to make of him,” I confessed, plopping myself onto a nearby stool. “He stood me up at the party and then told me he was in the hospital.” Darren showed interest when he would text me or attempt to talk to me at work, but I wasn’t taking him too seriously as a potential boyfriend.
“What, you don’t believe him?”
“No, I do.” I nodded, tapping my fingers against the granite of the bar top. “It’s just…” I stopped talking. Truth be told, Darren looked fine when I saw him at work two days after the party. Sure, it had only been a minor car accident, but it didn’t look like he even had a scratch on him. But I was about to reveal to Miranda that it really didn’t matter if Darren liked me or not. I was finding I liked someone else more than him anyway. That was ultimately my problem with going out with him. I really wasn’t giving Darren a fair chance because my thoughts were often muddled thinking about Matt. But that would have been wrong to vocally admit on many levels.
“We’ll see,” I mumbled, really wanting to get out of talking to my sister about my feelings. Ordinarily I would have enjoyed this small amount of bonding. But my feelings felt like I was betraying her even though she and Matt didn’t seem all that serious.
“So, how’s work going?”
I wanted to laugh. It was like Miranda had an imaginary list of awkward questions she was checking off in her head to ask. Not really wanting to admit I quit because all of my coworkers and even my manager are supernatural creatures, I just nodded politely. “It’s going great.”
I would probably have three days tops to find a new job before she started asking more intrusive questions. Or worse, the possible chance Matt would talk to her and reveal I no longer worked at The Forest.
Thankfully, Miranda lost interest in topics of my life fairly quickly. She went back to talking about Matt and dissecting his motives. For nearly a half hour, she spent her time explaining how she was going to not re
ply to his texts for a long period of time after he messaged her. I idly waited at the breakfast bar, deeming it rude if I were to abruptly walk out of the kitchen.
According to her logic, “ignoring him” was how she was going to show him he couldn’t get away with not talking to her or paying her the proper attention. I nodded politely and agreed at the parts I was expected to, but it was only because my sister was giving me the time of day by opening up to me on an emotional level. I personally was feeling the healthier idea would be to move on. Poor Miranda didn’t know that it really wasn’t a bad thing that a werewolf didn’t want to date her.
It was only after we passed the thirty-minute mark of my sister complaining did I finally vocalize something that I wasn’t aware was bothering me.
“What do you like about him?”
Miranda paused mid-rant. She stood and emptied the uneaten bits of her meal into the trash before she proceeded to place her plate, fork, and knife in the dishwasher. “Besides that he’s really good looking?” She smiled. I gave a shrug.
“He’s intelligent, funny, chivalrous. Matt’s different. He’s not like other guys I’ve been out with before.”
I wanted to believe that Miranda truly thought that Matt was one of a kind. Perhaps that would immediately kill off my under the surface feelings of my own about him. I could get him out of my mind knowing there was something real and genuine between him and my sister. But I knew Miranda well enough to know she often used the same adjectives to describe everyone she’s dated. No matter whether it was an airhead jock or an enthusiastic musician, the same words were used in description of the guy’s character.
I suppose the difference between these words being used now and previously were that she wasn’t wrong; Matt was different. Miranda just wasn’t aware of to what extent. “He opens every door for me.” She smiled, putting away a jug of lemonade that Simon must have left out earlier. “He has unique conversation. It’s as though he’s an old man living in a young man’s body.” She giggled.
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