Life With A Werewolf

Voice From The Dead Part 13 - Licking Our Wounds

          Okay, I'll admit it. There was a little bit of arm twisting to get to write this week's update. But, there is a very good reason. I wanted it on written record that I, Donte, nor anyone else in Roam's outfit, forced Jason into volunteering. None of us wanted him to walk into a situation that was almost guaranteed to result in his death or maiming. We wanted to work out a different way of doing things: find out where little Evelyn was, find their chain of command and support. That sort of thing.
          But Jason went ahead and jumped in with both feet, not bothering to ask any one of us if we had a better idea. I mean, we didn't, but it would have been nice to be asked. Perhaps we could have come up with something different that would get everyone back alive.
          On the night of the incident, Roam was across the street, waiting. Crash was in the distance, waiting at one area to follow them as soon as they left. Sophia was with Crash, like usual. They had become inseparable to the point that even we sometimes began to question if that was a good thing or not. And I, Donte, was up on the roof of the old Italian restaurant across the street from the park watching everything go down through the sniper scope.
          You may ask yourself now if I could snipe Verner, why didn't I just go ahead and do it? Kill him and put a stop to this.
          Well, first off, Verner got out of the back of the SUV. Not the driver's door. Obviously he wasn't alone. Sure, I could kill Verner, but not before the other werewolves in the vehicle tore our poor boy to pieces. And Jason, who was armed only with GPS trackers, wouldn't have been able to do much more than show us if werewolves really do crap in the woods.
          It was a relief seeing Evelyn racing towards Roam. I'll admit, I teared up a bit at that. Hey, that little girl maybe hellfire and a tornado wrapped into a tiny vicious ball at times, but she's ours. She's not like a sister. She is a sister to me.
          Besides, Cecily was in my ear the entire time to remind me. "Don't," she growled. "Don't take the shot."
          "I'm not, Ceci," I said. "Just observing."
          "Good, cause you're libel to hit Jason too. Especially since you're emotional right now."
          "I'm not," I paused to wipe a tear away. "I"m not emotional."
          "Sure."
          The plan wasn't perfect, but it was the best plan we had. Crash and Sophia lying in wait would, to the best of their ability, follow the car when Jason was in it. We had the GPS units to show exactly where they were going. Roam and Tanika were going to take Evelyn home. I was there to observe, in case they decided to get froggy and just try to kill Jason there. I could take out at least two of the bastards, and hopefully, Roam could get to him in time. Killian was on the opposite end of the city, in case they decided to go in the other direction. He was standing just in the woodline near the highway, waiting for the G-Wagon to pass by.
          Things didn't quite go our way that evening. First, the bastards took the opposite way. We had expected them to leave town as soon as possible. Instead, they drove through town, throwing everyone off. Crash, Sophia and Killian was in full werewolf form. They couldn't exactly run through the center of town.
          "Tell Tanika to be ready," I shouted at Cecily.
          "She's with Roam," Cecily said. "What's going on?!"
          "They're cutting through town!"
          Her voice rose in panic. "Well, don't lose them!"
          "What am I going to do?! Sprout metal wings and fly down like the Falcon?"
          "I don't know! Do Parkour or something!"
          "Damn it Ceci, I'm not Tom Cruise! Where's the GPS taking us?"
          The plan was supposed to be simple. Jason meets them in the park. We get Evelyn back. They take Jason. We take them out. Easy. What the hell happened?!
          Instead, Jason was gone. The Nobility had disappeared, and what's worse, we had no idea where they were going. No one tailing them. All that was left was Cecily.
          "They're leaving a trail," she sighed over the radio.
          "That a good thing?"
          "They're finding the GPS units one at a time. They're almost down to the last one. No Wait! Yup. They found it. He's gone."
          That was the loudest I'd cursed in my life. At the last location of the GPS unites was a bag with several of the units, along with every stitch of clothing he had been wearing. It was tossed in a dumpster behind a Wal-Mart. Crash, Sophia and Killian all tried picking up the trail, but eventually they just came up empty. Roam and Tanika attempted to as well. Cecily hacked in and somehow was able to snag security footage. Nothing.
          The plan was to go back to base and regroup. Put our heads together so to speak. Crash and Sophia went stalking off on their own. They were probably going to find some poor Nobility to take out their aggression on. I felt sorry for whoever that person was. Killian, instead of going inside, stood guard outside at the gate, certain that The Nobility was going to attack us at any moment, believing we were vulnerable.
          What bothered me the most is that Jason was never meant to be part of this mess. I was adopted into it. Tanika and Roam escaped from it. Half-adopted Crash into it after his whole mess. We all wanted Crash back one day, for the entire beef to be squashed. To have our spiritual brother back. But, not like this. Crash was half-feral. I know Sophia was supposed to be helping him, but she really wasn't. And then there's his pack.
          I expected screaming. Yelling. Accusations and finger-pointing. To be honest, part of me wishes that we got the screaming. Yelling. Finger pointing.
          We met everyone in the living room. Roam broke the news. Kris and Sean held each other. Zack glared at me. "So, get him back."
          "We'd like to," I said, "we want to. But we don't even know where they have him."
          "Where's Crash," Kris asked.
          "He's trying to track them down. I'm not sure if...."
          Gator Lady at least began growling at us. "Fuck! Don't even say it. Don't even say it, you mangy fuckin varmint." With that, Elouise stomped out of the room.
          "Come on," Sean said to Kris, "Let's go get some air."
          I grabbed a beer and followed them outside and watched them disappear into the darkness. I knew we'd be fine. No werewolf or other creature would dare come onto our property. Especially with Killian standing ready to tear anyone apart who came close. "Shit," I said, staring up at the sky. "Well, Jason, I hope whatever happens to you is quick. You didn't deserve this." I didn't look at the beer that I grabbed and took a sip, then made a face. It was the Odul's that Roam picked up for him. Then I poured a little out on the ground in honor of him. "Well, dude, I can see why you don't like this crap."
          I didn't hear Zack come up behind me. "Why are you talking like he's already dead? How can you give up hope so quick?"
          "Because, The Nobility wanted to kill him and now they have him. If he's not dead yet, he soon will be and baring a miracle, there's nothing we can do."
          It was right about then that Sean walked up from the Darkness. "Uh dude," he said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "They said they know where he is. At least I think that's what they're saying."
          I'll admit, we were glad to have help from anyone or anything at that moment and Sean's new friends certainly did help. But they sure as hell did stink.