When You Love a Wolf: Down with Sickness

“Down with the Sickness”

"Madness is a gift." - Disturbed

“Liam, it’s Vi,” I snapped into the phone. He had failed to pick up again. The world was falling down around us and he wasn’t answering his cell. “If you don’t pick up your goddamn phone, I’m gonna kill you!” I slammed the lid of the phone shut, snarling. “Where the fuck is he?” I added in a whisper as I paced the front of my office building. I was dressed and ready to go, the documents tucked away on a flash drive in my pocket. My sneakers scraped the tile floor, contemplating on just taking off at a run.
         I could Change, leave my clothes somewhere safe and run back home. But it was a long way; I’d be seen; I wouldn’t have my phone incase Liam did manage to call me back. Damn it…
         My phone began to sing the Avett Brothers’ “Ballad of Love and Hate” from its speakers. Liam.
         I flipped open the phone. “Where the fuck are you!?!” I half-yelled at him.
         “I’m sorry, baby. I’m on my way with Dad. You ready?”
         “I’ve been ready,” I answered, ducking behind a pillar when a group of teens came to peer through the windows, armed with crowbars and guns. The world had gone insane and was definitely ending. Welcome to the apocalypse for crying out loud. The glass broke at the other end of the room from me. I ducked down further.
         “What the fuck is that?” Liam snarled.
         “People are going insane. Some gang of kids is trying to break in. As if there’s anything here to steal… Where are you?”
         “Almost there. Go out back. It’ll be safer.”
         “Done.”
         We hung up simultaneously. I needed to concentrate and have all my senses alert while trying to sneak around in the dark building, not fighting on the phone over where the hell Liam and David had been for the past half hour when they were supposed to be here with me. I dodged and dashed around security cameras and the cubicles, deserted hours ago. I dropped down onto all fours and skimmed the floor as I rushed past the huge windows that framed the wall of Patterson’s office. He was still inside, his light being the only one on. I didn’t want him to know the only other Supernatural who worked for him knew he was working up a huge spell and was probably partially responsible for waking up the demons that were wreaking havoc across the city. The Bureau was gonna ask me to write up a full report at the end of this. I had been working undercover for months, trying to catch him. Now I finally had my proof.
         I reached the back door, slipping through it without ever happening to open it any more than a quarter of the way. I crouched down in the alley, looking both ways. The wet pavement reflected the orange glow of the street lamps, painting everything in a scary Halloween-ish glow of orange and black. I inhaled, sniffing the air for Liam or David. Nothing yet. I moved from the doorway to the nearest parked car, squatting down beside a tire. I checked my pocket to be sure the flash drive was still there. Feeling the cool plastic in my fingers made me relax. I still had it.
         The dark green suburban came around the corner, pulling to a stop. I sniffed the air, not sure if it was David’s car or not. The window rolled down and Liam’s face appeared in the dim light. “Violet?”
         “I’m here!” I hissed in a whisper, appearing from my dark spot. I rushed forward, yanking the back door open and leaping in. When the car was in motion again, I collapsed into the seats.
         “You okay?” David asked, peeking at me through the rearview mirror.
         “Yeah… That was just some scary shit is all. Patterson’s still there, spelling away like a black witch would. We gotta get out of the city before it gets much worse. Once we’re out, I can contact the Bureau and get this taken care of. And then—” I sighed hugely in relief. “—it’s vacation time.”
         Liam turned to smile at me, touching my knee. “Sounds good to me, baby.”
         “Who said I’m taking you on said vacation?” I asked, squeezing his fingers, grinning playfully. “I may go alone and count it as my vacation from you too.”
         “That’s not funny,” he responded, his nose wrinkling.
         “I’m just teasing. Where’re we headed?”
         “Meeting Colin at a grocery store. See if we can get some supplies before we high tail it out to Shelbyville to pick up Tony and Michael,” David answered me. The car hit the highway and he took off at full speed, dodging wrecked and abandoned cars with ease.
         “Who’s Colin?” I asked, leaning forward between the seats.
         David reached around to push me back with his right hand. “You make me uneasy when you do that.”
         Liam looked at him before turning in his seat to look at me. “He’s been my contact. He deals in demons. I thought maybe we could get some information on them so we can deal with one if we run into some shit.”
         “He’s a demon practitioner? Are you insane?” I asked, blinking. Rule number one: You don’t mess with demons. Rule number two: You don’t mess with those who are stupid enough to mess with demons.
         “He’s our best bet at this rate, babe.”
         “I can so think of a better bet than that,” I snapped, pulling my HK pistol from inside my coat and its holster. “This is our best bet. You point, aim, and pull the damn trigger!”
         “Some demons are a lot stronger than what a couple of bullets can do, Violet,” David answered me. He took an exit for Hurstborne.
I muttered a couple of curse words in their general direction as I leaned back in the seat, placing my pistol on the seat beside me. A couple of bullets wasn’t what I had been implying. I had meant a full damn magazine emptied into one of their guts. That would bring a demon down. I hoped.
                We pulled to a stop outside of a little mom and pop’s grocery store. I climbed out with the guys, tucking my hair up into my hat and pulling my grey long coat closer and buttoning it up the rest of the way. I stuck close, keeping my steps in stride with their long ones, out of reach if they had to draw a gun, but close enough I was still in their protective circle. I pulled the brim of my cap down further over my eyes.
              When we stepped inside, it was practically empty. Everything was in ruins. Food was scattered all over the floor, display signs knocked over, cash registers popped open or on the floor broken… The place was a damn mess and had obviously been raided. My eyes scanned the rest of the place. Leaning against a kiddies’ ride in the front of the store was a tall, blonde man with black rimmed glasses. My personal definition of a good-looking nerd. Except this guy felt wrong. Something felt…shady, shifty…about him. I didn’t like it. 
                I hung back as Liam approached him. David looped around the check-out area and headed to the back with an empty trash bag to fill with whatever he could find.
              “Colin Hughes.” Liam held out his hand.
              “Mr. Kennedy,” Colin responded, shaking Liam’s hand firmly. “And this is…?” His dark green eyes passed over me in a once-over. It made me want to squirm in disgust.
              “Violet,” I answered, still staying a few feet back. Liam backed up after letting go of his hand to stand beside me.
              “And you’re a shifter too?” he asked curiously.
              “A Were?” I asked, keeping my tone and face blank. “Yes.”
              He nodded before looking back to Liam. “So you said you wanna know about demons, right?”
              “As much as you can tell us when it comes to killing or maiming one,” Liam replied.
              “Good. Let’s walk then. I don’t want to be any closer to the doors than we have to. Produce anyone?” He started to turn to walk away from the doors, pausing after a few steps to be sure we were following.
              Liam kept a few steps behind him. “Talk,” he said calmly. I stayed a few steps behind Liam, looking around cautiously.
              “Well,” the tall, lanky demon practitioner drawled, “first things first, demons are aggressive—”
              “No shit,” Liam and I both said sarcastically.
              “—and they also don’t like to be cornered. They’re very tricky. They’ll try and make deals with you in order to save your lives. If you make a deal with one, they can pull you into their world whenever they want in order to repay the favor.”
            “We don’t want to make deals with them,” Liam said, stopping a few feet from him as we paused beside the freezer aisles. “We need to know how to drop one.”
              Colin shifted on his feet, his hands in his pockets of his long coat. God, the man reminded me a drug dealer I had seen hanging around my dorms from college. Casual and normal looking with something wrong floating about him. “Just really powerful magic or a high caliber weapon. Something that would bring Godzilla down might work.”
            “Great,” I muttered, turning to look at the frozen boxes of Stouffer’s lasagna and pizzas.
            Liam shot me a glare when I looked at him. I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t comfortable with this at all. I had every right to be sarcastic. “Is that all you can tell us?”
            “Pretty much. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
            “Alright then. Violet, let’s grab some shit and find Dave. We need to be heading south. Hughes,” Liam finished, tipping his head in recognition before turning to go. I let him walk past me, keeping my eye on the shady human. Colin was shifting his weight from foot to foot, keeping one hand in his pocket. I lowered my head in my own good bye and turned to go. Liam was already several steps ahead. I let him keep going, hanging back a few steps as I continued to survey the damage done to the store. It was a wonder David hadn’t come back yet. There wasn’t that much to take in the first place. I paused to bend and tie my sneaker.
            A hand snatched the back of my coat, yanking me up into the air and off my feet. I screamed in surprise, my arms flying up to grab at the second arm locking around my chest. My hat fell off, blonde hair obscuring my vision.
            Liam spun around, his face white.
            Colin held me against his chest, a knife to my throat. My toes barely reached the floor. “Give me the car keys and your supplies and I’ll let her live,” he asserted, his voice deeper and stronger.
            I struggled against his arm, snarling.
            “Let go,” Liam growled, stalking forward.
            “No closer or it’s off with your little bitch’s head,” the warlock sneered in my ear. His breath was foul. My stomach flip-flopped beneath my skin. I looked at Liam, boring my gaze into his eyes, willing him to look at me. But he was in a staring match with Colin, his whole body quivering with the need to attack. “Give me your keys and your playmate goes unharmed. I’m gonna take her with me. There’s nothing you can do, Kennedy, except say good bye.”
            “And what the fuck would you want me for, asshole?” I growled. He shifted me to face him, holding me by the collar. My hands grasped his arm. He placed the knife back to my throat with his free hand.
            “I figure a demon might take a female werewolf in her prime as a familiar, giving me safe passage. Not to mention, then a demon would owe me—”
            Bang! The sound of a gunshot being fired from only a few feet behind me made my ears ring. There was a soft ping as a brass casing fell and bounced off the marble floor. A warm mist sprayed my face—blood—causing me to squeal, blindly kicking as I fell backwards. Colin’s body fell in the opposite direction, limp and lifeless. I hit the floor, ass first, covered in blood spatter. Pain shot up my spine and arms, jarring me. The demon practitioner’s head was hollowed and practically gone. I sat there, stammering gibberish as I stared at the mutilated body next to me on the dirty white tile. I turned to look over my shoulder, still in shock. Liam was standing there, his chrome Colt still trained on the immobile body of my attacker. I was starting to regret hassling him for carrying the hydra shock rounds. Overkill had no meaning at the moment. He lowered his gun slowly. He was breathing hard. He moved forward slowly. He leaned down, engulfing me in a hug. The tears didn’t hold back. They came spilling down my cheeks. I finally was able to catch my breath, and when I did, it came out in a huge sobbing sound. My whole body shook with the choked noise from my throat.
              The sound of running footsteps came from around the corner. I looked up from Liam’s shoulder to see David standing over us. “What the fuck?” he asked.
              Liam pulled back from me, kissing my forehead then my mouth deeply. I inhaled fast, returning it. When he pulled away and stood, he pulled me up with him. “Let’s get the fuck outta here,” he said quietly.


Back in the suburban, I leaned against the backseat, feeling completely numb. I had almost died. I could have died. My life would have been over… Just like that. All it would have taken for Colin to kill me was just to slice that knife across my throat. Liam was sitting beside me, unable to take his eyes off of me. I finally turned to look at him. I blinked slowly. I reeked of warlock blood. I was covered in it.
         “Liam,” David said from up front. “Get her out of those clothes.”
         Thank you, for reading my mind.
         Liam nodded, reaching into the back and pulling a bag up onto his lap. He pulled out one of his hooded sweatshirts. “C’mon, baby, let’s get that off of you.” I sat still as he unbuttoned my coat and attempted to slip it off of me. I leaned forward, making it easier for him. Liam gathered the hoodie up and pulled it over my head. I slipped myself into it, shuddering in the familiar warmth and smell of his clothing. I still had dried blood caked on my face. I could feel it sticking to me. I felt disgusting.
         Liam leaned down to remove my sneakers, soaked through, and then my socks. He looked up at me. “You wanna take these off, too?” he asked, indicating my jeans. Considering they were soaked too, why wouldn’t I?
         I nodded. “Yeah,” I croaked out. “They’re ruined.”
         He nodded in understanding, pushing the sweatshirt up and undoing the button and zipper. He pulled them down. Goosebumps flared in one big wave down my pale legs. I shivered, my whole body convulsing for a moment. Liam looked up at me apologetically. He brought his hands to his mouth and breathed hot air onto them and then began to rub my legs, up and down to warm them. I caught him smile in relief when I sighed. He sat back up and began to dig through his bag, finding a pair of sweatpants that were his. “Right foot first,” he murmured.
         Once I had the sweatpants on, I didn’t want to do anything but sleep. I knew I should have been staring out the window, or kissing Liam, or something. Something that would imprint into my brain I was still alive. I could still see, touch, taste, feel, hear… I could still do all that. But all my brain asked for was to be passed out in Liam’s arms. And I tried to do exactly that. I crawled across the backseat and laid my head into his lap, curling myself into a ball next to him. He ran his hand up and down my back and shoulder, both of which hurt like hell from my fall. My spine was still screaming in pain when I moved just the right—technically, wrong—way.
         As I lay there, I found myself staring into the darkness of the floorboard. I only ever closed my eyes when Liam’s fingers brushed from my temple, through my hair, and back onto my torso. I couldn’t make myself drift off. All I could think about was what had happened, what was happening. I didn’t know how to handle this. I was twenty-three and still a pup in most elders’ eyes. I shouldn’t be being held at knifepoint or gallivanting across the country in order to bring down some evil Supernaturalists who decided it was their turn to play God. I shouldn’t be a field agent at this age. Yet I was.
         And so was Liam. What if it had been him being held as a hostage? What would I have done? What could I have done? I wasn’t near the shot he was; I wasn’t as strong; I wasn’t as steady in situations where my loved ones were on the brink of dying. I had gone through all the training and knew how to handle a hostage situation. But would I have been able to handle it if it was Liam’s life on the line, and not a stranger’s?”
         “Dad,” Liam said quietly, jarring me from my thinking. “I shot someone.”
         “You did what you had to do,” David answered.