Alice's Unwritten Rules

[NotAlice]

Unwritten Rules
-The Sins of the Shadows-
When evil rises, the shadows fight as one…
But the flames will choose their enemy…

...Because making up crazy little things like that gives me a starting point.

I've got pretty much no plan/plot at all. I have a list of character names. Some first names. Nothing more. Totally winging it. And hating the fact that I've lost a lot of it so far!

I may post snippets... When I have some interesting snippets to post. (Any that I may have used I no longer have. Grr)

[NotAlice]

It's awful. Don't read it. I just need a more reliable back up source.

[NotAlice]

Prologue
A low moan echoed across the cavernous walls – a deep guttural sound that came from somewhere deep within. It spoke of pain and discomfort, of the inability to escape an unceasing torment. A high pitched laughing ensued.
“Hmm,” the pointed end of 7 inch heels pressed down into beaten skin. “Your skin stretched so tight over your balls...” the heel twisted, pulling skin with it and electing another groan of pain, “turning purple...” She grinned, pressing the platform of her boot down and leaning a small portion of her bodyweight forward, “nice and sensitive... I could just crush them...” She added more weight. “Has anyone ever crushed your balls before?”
She received another groan in response as she applied her torture. She pulled back slightly. ‘I asked, has anyone ever crushed your balls before?”
“No, Mistress” She reapplied her pressure, laughing softly at the sharp intake of breath of the pathetic mortal before her.
“Do you like it?”
“Arg!” He took several gasping breaths. “Hurts mistress...’
“Good.” She experimented a little with different angles and pressures, finding her exertions to produce different outcomes – like a piece of art, she often compared it. She rocked back and forth, loving the way each sound he made seemed to reverberate up from the very part of his body she was so enjoying. “I like the way you groan. It means you’re working for me.”
She knelt down, half on top of him, and squeezed his balls between the leather of her boots. It caused even greater, louder moans than before.
She squeezed her thighs tighter together, “Right there... Good boy.”
She was impressed. For a worthless piece of meat that she’d dragged in from the street, he’d been very well behaved and responsive to her. His struggles had been replaced by his groans of pain and pleasure combined as she tied a piece of rope tighter and tighter around his balls. It didn’t take long for him to get into the routine of calling her Mistress, either. It made her wonder whether he’d had any experience with her style of fun in the past.
She grabbed something off the table behind her as she moved off him, making sure to keep it out of sight. She grinned. “Now, I think I’d like to decorate you...”
His eyes widened as he caught sight of the strange contraption dangling from her fingers, squirming pointlessly as if trying to escape. Her laugh was mocking.
“This is one of my favourite toys,” she leaned down and whispered close to his ear, “Do you like it?”
He could manage only a whimper in response. The bizarre compilation of clamps and squeeze things could only mean more pain to his already bruised and throbbing balls.
She applied each one with precision and accuracy, her laugh seeming to mock every scream and cry of pain that followed. This was what she loved most – the way they would scream and beg for mercy, the way they would draw in long and ragged breaths of air as they fought to keep from crying... the way she learnt exactly what each clamp, with their different strengths and grip heads, mean for the unwilling victim on whom they were attached.
“There you are, aren’t you pretty now? All decorated for me...” She giggled as she squeezed him, making him scream, “ Not so tough guy anymore? Hmm? How about we have some real fun?”
She brushed her tongue across him lips, running sharpened fingernails roughly down his chest, catching on his nipples. She stopped for a minute and looked at them, “Perhaps I didn’t fully decorate you after all.” She grinned, “Never mind. I want to play with you now.”
She untied his wrists and ankles from the rings on the floor, choosing instead to use the ones that hung from the low ceiling. “Stand up.”
He stood, with many winces and moans as he knocked the clamps that were crushing his balls. He was past the point of refusing her.
She tied his wrists securely, and then retied his ankles to different hoops in the floor. She could see him squirming with discomfort as she disappeared behind him. He was such a jumpy mortal, but so much fun to abuse.
She wasted no time in stepping into her strap on, and making sure that he felt it across his butt cheeks as she leant around him to clasp the ball gag in his mouth. He mocked the sound of his whimpers. “Don’t you want to feel my cock in your ass?”
She wasted no time in plunging into him, her sounds of pleasure intentionally mocking each moan and cry that he made. She wanted him humiliated, and humiliated he was.
“I’m just going to milk your prostate. Do you like that?”
He groaned, “Yes, Mistress.”
“Hmm?”
“Arg! I can feel your cock slipping across my prostate, Mistress.”
“I’d think you’d say thank you!”
“Mm, thank you, Mistress!”
She closed her eyes and continued to plough into him, letting the sweet sounds of pain fill her, bringing her closer to where she longed to be.
His breathing became more rugged.
“Don’t you dare!” she slapped him hard with one hand, the other going down to roughly tug off one of the clamps still secured around his balls, “Don’t you fucking dare come, do you hear me? You’re just my fucking toy.”
His groan was one of pleasure, “Yes, Mistress.”
She continued to pummel him, never ceasing her torture, and delighting in pulling another clamp off every time he was close to coming. She kept riding him, the thrill of power overcoming her, leaving her screaming in pleasure again and again.
Eventually, the last clamp was pulled off him. As his scream on pain tore from somewhere deep within him, she bit down sharply into his neck, elongated teeth piercing his soft flesh. He screams turned to ones of terror, until they faded off into nothing more than soft echo’s in the cavernous dungeon. Her victorious laugh joined them. “When will you mortals learn? No one ever escapes from Lorelei’s Lair.”

[NotAlice]

Chapter One- Whispering Shadows
To say that it had been an interesting day would be an understatement. It had been more than just interesting. It had been downright bizarre from the minute she woke up, until the minute her head hit the pillow that night... or rather, the next morning.
It had started off a fairly normal day; blue sky, birds singing, branches swaying in the soft breeze. Rowan had curled up under her covers, determined to reserve as much of the heat and comfort she’d gained throughout the night for just a little while longer.
She could feel herself on the verge of sleep, and happily let the sensation take over her, knowing that no one would rush her from her bed, or demand she get up. Although, that might have had something to do with the fact that the other residents had been out drinking until the late hours of the night and were in no fit state to be up and about, whereas she was perfectly hang-over free.
A soft buzzing sound stirred her once again, and she reached out instinctively for her phone, finding it among a pile of papers and other junk that had gathered on her bedside cabinet. She looked at the screen.
Number withheld.
She groaned, having no patience with salesmen and insurance companies wanting to woo her over to their side. She hit the end call button and dropped her phone somewhere down her bed.
Cosy mood ruined… she thought, running her fingers through her hair. Still, she planned to lie there a few minutes longer, before accepting her day had begun.
She didn’t get to lie there for long until she felt a familiar buzz against the side of her leg.
Withheld number.
If there was one thing that annoyed her it was these cold callers that were irrefutably persistent. Once again she hit the end call button.
Within minutes it was ringing again.
Withheld number.
Rowan let out a low growl that vibrated up her throat with a frequency to rival that of the phone in her hand.
“Yes?” She wasn’t in the mood for niceties this morning. All she could hear from the other end was a heavy breathing. She rolled her eyes. How many times did people talk about things like this? Of phone calls of someone breathing eerily down the phone at them etcetera blah, blah, blah… Was it honestly supposed to scare her?
“Look if you have something to say to me then just say it.” More heavy breathing. “Thirty seconds, then I hang up. Counting from now: One… Two… Three…Fo-”
“How quickly those who made a pact can come to overlook the fact, or wish the reckoning be delayed, but a debt is a debt and must be paid.”
Rowan rolled her eyes. She’d heard that before. There was no threat in those words. Unless she had unknowingly given away a child in the past few weeks, which she sure couldn’t remember, then she was on safe ground. “What, is this some kind of joke?”
“Night’s child wanders far and wide. Many a new figure he meets on his way, till the shadow is one too strong for him. Lost in lust’s kiss he swears his word… on his twins’ life the burden is bared…”
The mystery caller hung up after that, leaving a stunned and puzzled Rowan staring at her phone.
On his twins’ life… Ash! What had he done? The words rang through her head with dizzying speed. Who was he with? Who was the shadow? Lost in lust’s kiss? What bargain had he made? And who was the caller in relation to Ash?
She hit redial, slamming her phone down in frustration as the message tone beeped, reminding her it was a withheld number.
Her heart seemed to beat a mile a minute and she couldn’t think straight. Panic welled up inside her. Where was he?
Rowan breathed deeply and tried to reign in her emotions. For all she knew he was fast asleep, as drowsy with alcohol as she knew the others were. He had been out with them last night after all.
First stop was first. She shoved the covers back hastily and clambered for the door, phone still clutched in her hand. She bypassed her slippers and dressing gown, not caring that she was only in a pair of lacy knickers and a cropped top. Ash first. Pride later.
Not that it mattered. There wasn’t a single person in the house that hadn’t seen her naked before, it was more just a matter of personal dignity that she didn’t make a habit out of strolling around in her birthday suit.
To say everyone in the house had seen her naked was only a thought made worse with the realization that there were 7 people in the house at that moment, and she was the only female. She didn’t flash herself off to all and sundry because she wanted to, she wasn’t some kind of whore; it was just part of living pack life. Transformations were never kind on clothing, so unless you wanted to be wearing useless, shredded rags by morning, it was better to put aside the embarrassment and take clothing off before changing. With time, that embarrassment faded away. She didn’t really care which of them saw her, so long as they kept acting they way they always had. Treating her no differently than they did each other.
She made it to Ash’s room in record time as it wasn’t far from hers. She didn’t even try to be quite as she slammed the door back. She ran her fingers across the wall looking for the light switch, expecting a moan of disproval and maybe a pillow thrown her way.
His bed was empty.
Panic began to clench her chest again. She fought against it.
Use your head. Use your head. Call him.
She hit his speed dial and waited for the connection tone. It seemed to ring endlessly. Someone answered on the last ring.
“The burden bearer must but seek, a solitude, a refute meet. If she do wish her loved one get, she must in full fulfil a debt.”
They hung up. It was the same voice as before. The same rhyming lunatic that had the withheld number…
She now knew two things for sure:
1. He wasn’t mistaking her for someone else, and had definitely been in some sort of contact with her brother.
2. She had a way to get in touch with him and his crazy coded messages, so long as he didn’t decide to trash Ash’s phone.
She let out a frustrated growl and punched the wall viciously, angry at fate for doing this to her and Ash.
“Rowan?” She jumped at the voice behind her and turned sharply, wincing as she began to notice the dull throbbing pulsing through her hand and up her wrist. “Babe, what’s going on?”
Charlie -Broad shouldered and strong Charlie, with his thick dark hair and chocolaty eyes that she loved to drown into, standing there in just a pair of long jogger bottoms, his well toned chest on display.
He walked up to her and wrapped those warm strong arms around her. She could feel the muscles rippling as she relaxed into the warmth that emanated off him in waves. She felt herself relax in the familiarity of him.
“Tell, me.” The low rumble of his voice sent shivers down her spine – in a good way – just like it always did.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and buried her face into his chest. Her words sounded mumbled to her own ears, but she knew he could hear her just fine. “Ash is gone, and some lunatic has his phone. He keeps calling me.”
“It’s Ash we’re talking about here. He knows a lot of strange lunatic type people. Why should you be so surprised this time?”
She shuddered and looked up into Charlie’s eyes, seeking comfort in both them and his strong embrace. “Because this particular crazy lunatic has basically said that Ash has bitten of more than he can chew, and now he’s in some kind of trouble… that he owes some kind of debt.” She thought her word over to herself and could see the flaws that Charlie would pick up on. She quickly added, “I’m not explaining this right. This guy he… he talked in rhyme. He said things about how ‘on his twin’s life the burden is bared’ and how ‘she must fulfil a debt’. I don’t know what’s going on Charlie, but I’m worried… I’m scared.”
Charlie pulled her back into him, and she willingly buried her face into the crook of his neck. He ran his hands slowly up and down her back, taking a few seconds just to think over what she’d said.
She appreciated that – that he wasn’t just brushing her off for a fool and was taking her seriously. She sounded crazy talking about it, but the phone calls were real enough.
“What do you feel about it? You’re twins. You’re connected. The bond between you runs deeper and stronger than most wolf bonds. Use it. Does he feel like he’s in trouble?”
The bond! How could she have forgotten the bond they shared? They’d used it so many times to get each other out of sticky situations. She mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner. Charlie must have followed where her thoughts were taking her as he gave her a quick squeeze.
Rowan drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes and letting her focus drift inside of herself. She reached deep, grasping for that inner chord, the bond that tied her and her brother together. She found it, and grasped it, focussing all her energy into reading it, to following it to him and getting some sense of him.
The bond itself was mostly quiet… too quiet. For a minute her heart seemed to lodge somewhere in her throat. She calmed herself again, and gave a tug, waiting for a response. The one she got was very weak, but it was a response none the less. Ash was somewhere out there, and aware enough to respond to her calls.

*MISSING TEXT* ~ ended in bathroom scene

Rowan could feel herself rexaxing as his large hands worked their magic into all the tightened nook and crannies of her back. She realized what he meant when he'd said she was so tense he could feel the knotts under her skin. She could feel them too, every time he passed over one, and every time he managed to massage one away. He was right. He could help her. She hadn't realized she'd been so tense.
Hands nipped and tugged gently at her breasts and she moaned, loving the warm heat that radiated from his. The hard plains of his chest were pressed against her back, and she could feel his heart beat. It was starting to become slightly irregular, though not half as irregular as her own was.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up at him, having to arch her back in the process and suceeding to press her wanting breasts firmly into his wandering hands, exactly as planned. She kissed him.
Emotions were still in control of her, and the fear and anxiety that Ash's absense had stirred were still running strong through her. It many ways, she wanted to push away from Charlie and skip taking a shower and breakfast all together - to just grab clothes and run out the door, anything to make her feel like she was helping Ash. At the same time, her body longed for Charlie, and the reasonable part of her told her to take his moment and make use of this time. She wasn't helping Ash by running out and getting herself into trouble. Jer was doing his best right now, they had to trust him. Besides, he was their alpha, and they were supposed to look to him for direction - his quick and logical thinking were another thing that earned him his position. A careless and reckless leader wasn't the foundations for a successful pack.
Refocussing herself on what Charlie was doing to her, she closed her eyes and kissed him, taking control. She slid her tongue over his lips and bit out gently as they parted. It was Charlie's turn to groan. She knew he loved that. she'd discovered it early on. Nibbing on his bottom lip always made him speed things up - a useful thing to remember.
He stepped back slightly and pushed his jogger bottoms down with one hand, the other pulling her knickers off at the same time. They both kicked them hastly aside before he was wrapping his strong arms around her waist and lifting her into the shower.
The water scalded her skin but she didn't care. In many ways, the water felt colder than the fires that seemed to flare where skin come into contact with skin. For a few precious moments she just stood there, letting the water hit her, running down her body, taking a little more of the stress with it, washing it away.
Charlie's hands ressumed their exploring, but his movements were faster than before. Not fast enough. Rowan turned and took control again, running her hands over him, making her nails catch in all the places that she knew aroused him further. Not that he needed much more arousing. He was already paying a lot of attention. Her fingers trailed further downwards, before wrapping around the thickness of him. He arced into her touch.
She paid attention two him while his hands reached for her, brushing already soaking hair away from her face. Both of them watched as her hands moved over the hard length of him which was growing even thicker and harder under her touch. Rowan grinned, and looked up into his face. A look passed between them.
Before she knew what was happening she was being picked up and pressed against the tiled wall. She grew in a sharp gasp of breath at the contrast of hot and cold, wriggling slightly until her body adjusted to it. Charlie was pressed at her entrance, waiting. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him closer, drawing him in. The low growls of pleasure were mutual.
It didn't take long for them to find a rhythm. Their was no thoughtful slowness between them now, just pure need and lust. Of that she was glad. She needed fast and hard, an emotional deadbeat. She wanted to feel nothing more that Charlie thrusting in and out of her as she rode him hard. As usual, he knew what she needed and was happy to comply. It didn't take long until she was lost in the physical pleasure of the moment, and all other though fled from her. She could hear Charlie growling something too her but her brain was too overloaded with pleasure to try and translate and make sense of what had been said.
She could feel that familiar pulling feeling tightening someone low in her stomach and she tried to go faster, this stirring him into a frenzy. She was pressed flush against the wall as Charlie pounded into her at a speed she could hardly comprehend, only enjoy.
"Look at me." The words clicked somewhere inside her mind and she opened her eyes to meet his. That was one thing about Charlie, he wouldn't close his eyes, wanting to see every moment of what passed between them. She loved it when they made eye contact like this. There was something truely primal and wild in his eyes - a wild spark that clicked on when the moment he reached his climax. She knew it sounded cliche, but it always reminded her of the idea that you can see into one's soul through their eyes. She could see so much of what he was feeling in his, as she was sure he could in hers.
All though fled her as he pushed her over that final edge, and the pressure that had been building low down exploded, drowning her in sensation. She cried out with the force of it, loving the sound that tore up from Charlie as he came right alongside her. They rode their climax out together, with Charlie continuing to thrust into her, gradually slowing, until she collapsed against his shoulder, her breathing heavy and erratic. Charlie's also heavy breathing was tickling her neck.
For several long moments they stood there, unmoving. The hot water sluiced over them, mingling with sweat and the juices that Rowan could feel running across the tops of her thighs.
He moved them away from the wall and she stood on her own two feet, still pressed against him, forehead to forehead, arms wrapped tightly around each other. She ran hers up his back and burried them into his soaking hair.
"I think that might constitute sufficiently as an effective time killer, don't you think?"
Rowan rolled her eyes. "Way to go," She said sarcastically. "You really know what to say to a girl after having mind -blowing sex, don't you?"
"Mind -blowing?" He grinned down at her.
"How about sufficiently mind -blowing then?" She returned his grin in full. "I believe the next stage of our instruction was breakfast. I'll have eggs if you please. Sunny side up."
Charlie chuckled. "That settles that then." He splashed water at her before stepping out of the shower, leaving her standing under the scorching water. "I'll see you down stairs in five minutes. Don't be late."
He grabbed a towel as he opened the door, giving her several seconds of steel -butt -viewing. She grinned, her worries brushed aside for a little while.
She washed her hair and body in record speed, and ran the towel over her skin.
"Someone's in a hurry. In a rush to get to the bedroom for more fornication, are we?"
Rowan jumped at the voice behind her, spinning around. Haydn stood just inside the door, eyes heavy after a night of boozing.
"No. Breakfast." She grinned as she gathered up the clothes that had been kicked aside earlier. Haydn's eyes followed her. "Like what you see?"
"Hunny, you're not my type. Wrong parts. Your brother on the other hand..." It was his turn to grin.
The reminder of Ash brought the memories flooding back. Luckily, Haydn was still too hungover to notice the sudden change in her.
"Funny, I thought you knew how to appreciate a good pair of tits." Her voice sounded strained.
"I can appreciate yes. Do? No. Now get out and let me take a piss in peace." He walked past her.
She managed to roll her eyes at that. "You can come in on me in the shower naked, but I can't be here while you take a piss? Logic?"
Haydn just laughed. Rowan slipped out of the room and headed towards her own.
It didn't take long to dress and get downstairs, but Charlie's required five minutes were well and truely up by time she got there.
He looked up at her as she entered, one eyebrow raised. "We're oh so keen on our breakfast this morning, aren't we?" The sarcasm rolled thick off his tongue. Rowan couldn't help but appreciate the view. He stood there with an apron wrapped around his waist, meaning the lower part of him was covered. The rest made it obvious that he hadn't bothered to sidestop by his room before heading down here.
"Some of us appreciate the importance and necessity of clothes, while others," she looked him up and down, "Think otherwise."
"My loyalty lies with my stomach. Being a fellow wolf you should know that."
"I'll say!" They both turned quickly to the door. "Aww, Charlie, I'm diggin' the get up man."
Haydn grinned. Charlie just groaned. "Make your own bloody breakfast. You're not nicking ours."
Walking, somewhat wobbly, across the room, Haydn looked at what had been made. "Well, if it wasn't for the fact my little friend here told me about breakfast, I might have gone straight back to bed. Though, yes. You're right. My loyalties also lie with my stomach."
Charlie sent a mock glare towards Rowan. She shrugged her shoulders, looking at him with wide, innocent eyes. An act he clearly didn't buy.
"You're still not getting our food. Hang over or no, you can make your own." Charlie flipped the contents of the pan onto a plate and headed for the table. "Though if I was in my right mind I may be tempted to keep it all for myself."
"You know I can't cook!"
"But you're not in your right mind."
Both Haydn and Rowan answered together.
Charlie just laughed.
Breakfast was a rather light-hearted affair, of jokes, mick -taking, and laughter. Rowan was happy to let the others lead the conversation they way they wanted so long as it kept her mind of her brother. Charlie, she knew, was intentionally guiding the conversation in a set direction. As they still hadn't told Haydn about Ash, he was just being his usual self and keeping things light.
That's not to say that Haydn was never serious. He could be the most serious and focussed person around. But, without need, he tended to try and keep things light and bouncy, in the way some people come to expect of gay men.
Rowan loved Haydn. Not in the way she loved her brother or in the way she loved Charlie, but in a totally unique but friendlike way.
She'd known Haydn since before she'd even met the pack. She'd been out with Ash at a party one night where they'd stuck together, not knowing anyone besides the host, who seemed intent on staying with a different group of people. Haydn had been a hit, with all of the girls crowding around him and trying to get him to dance. At first, they just rolled their eyes at him, labeling him as a wanna be, and taking a seat at the furthest away corner of the room. They hadn't been there long before someone slipped into the seat beside them and apologising profusely. They'd recognised him straight off as the same Mr Popular they'd seen before. Haydn had been full of apologies for diving in at their table, but practically begged them to let him stay there and hide from the masses, claiming that they'd chosen the only dark spot in the room.
The three of them had ended up chatting together for what felt like hours.
It had been a fun night, both her and Ash trying to chat him up, but it quickly became obvious that he had more interest in her brother. Which, she decided, made it quiet obvious why he'd been so keen to escape the throngs of giggling girls. Still, by the end of the night they'd been swapping numbers, and agreeing to meet up again the next day for a drink.
It was only when they met up again the next day that they realized that Haydn was a wolf, and he that they were. After that point, Haydn was at their appartment almost 24/7. The chemistry between Ash and Haydn was intense to say the least, and their relationship took of like a rocket. There were times when Rowan felt like resenting them for it, when they were 'together' and she was alone, but for the most part, she was happy for them. For Ash in particular. Life hadn't been easy on the two of them prior to living on their own.
When they were playing nookie somewhere, Haydn would spend time with Rowan. Shopping with Hayd, she soon discovered, far out weighed sopping with any other girly friend she'd ever known. They had a blast of a time.
Haydn was in no way effeminate, but he knew his stuff. Rowan saw him as a sort of best friend figure. It was Haydn who introduced them to the pack.
Jer had began to question Haydn's whereabouts, asking where he'd been spending most of his days and nights, as he'd been at the house less and less as the weeks had passed. Hayd had admitted to hanging with some wolves he'd met at a party, and said we were the least 'mutt -like wolves' he'd ever met. Jer had insisted on formulating his own oppinion, being concerned with the idea of one of his pack spending so much time with none pack wolves.
Hayd talked madly of the pack for days after that, begging them to go there and meet everyone. Eventually, they agreed.. Rowan had never been so scared in her life. Or so it felt at the time.
The ride to the pack the next day had been a long and tense one, with both Ash and Rowan sitting in the back of Haydn's car hands grasped. For a while Hayd had tried to make jokes and do his usual light hearted thing, but after ten minutes of one word answers, at most, their mood seemed to rub off on him. The rest of the journey had been a quite one. They crawled up the driveway doing less that 10 km/h, coming to a slow stop at a distance from the door. For the next ten minutes none of them had moved. None of them had spoken. Haydn had looked about ready to pull back out of the drive and get as far away as possible. Even his confidence had dwindled at the idea of them meeting the pack. It was no secret that the packs were known for their less than moral methods of 'pest removal', and they certainly wouldn't lose sleep over it. If Jer didn't like them when he met them, it would be easy for him to have them removed from the equation. Mutts generally weren't supposed to know too much about pack life, or to be involved with pack members in any way. In some ways, their lives had depended on getting out of that car and into the house. Backing out would have been signing their own death warrant.
The final boost to get them out of the car had been when someone had tapped on the driver side window. They'd all jumped.
Charlie had grinned upon seeing their sombre faces. Rowan, for sure, had felt her heart leap in her chest at the sight of that sun -kissed skin and dark hair. From then on, she'd got out of the car in a foggy haze, her mind swinning with all the possibilities of what she'd like to do with the fine speciman in front of her. Of course, the extent of their conversation hadn't gone past him asking their names, and keeping his quite in the process. Once out of the car, he'd been serious, no more grins or light quips. They were mutts, a threat, and not people to be getting involved with, and boy! The walk to the house had been a long one.
Walking through corridors and up stairs, Rowan had paid attention to everything that was around her from the paintings on the walls, to how bright the lights were in their holders on the walls, convinced that she wasn't going to be seeing them again on her way back out. She doubted she'd be going 'back out' at all. At least not alive and breathing.
*BLAH BLAH BLAH* ~Flashback
"Rowan?"
She crashed back to reality at hearing her voice. Both Charlie and Haydn were looing at her. "Sorry. I was away in my own thoughs." She trailed off, looking towards the far wall again.
"Think about what?" Hayd scooted his chair closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her backwards.
"Just about when we first met you." She looked up at him and smiled. "You haven't changed a bit."
Hayd hugged her close.
"And of course you wouldn't want me to, would you?"
"Not at all."
Charlie cleared his throat.
"What? Jelous?" Hayd pulled her closer.
"No, but my marvelous cooking abilities are going unappreciated." He pointed to the untouched food on Rowans' plate.
She quickly took at bite. Cold, but eatable. She had a bit more. Even still, she pushed some of it off onto Haydn's plate. She may be a wolf with a bottomless stomach and the capability to eat 3 or 4 helping of a meal, but that morning, her worry seemed too be putting some kind of block on her throat, making the idea of swallowing food a less than inspiring one.
She managed some of it, but there was a limit.
Hayd looked at her funny. "You're passing up breakfast?" He whispered. Charlie turned and looked at her.
She smiled at him, "Nothing against the food, but my mind is elsewhere today. I can't stop worrying about Ash... do you think Jer's had any luck?"
"What about Ash? What's wrong with him?" Haydn stared at her. She'd completely forgotten that they hadn't told him about Ash yet.
"Ah shit..." She winced, not knowing how to put into words. Luckily she didn't have to.
Charlie answered for her. "We think that he's got himself into some trouble again last night. His usual type of trouble."
Ash pursed his lips slightly at the suggestion of Ash being with other guys again. They might have been 'together' for a while, but Ash still wasn't quite ready to commit, prefering to keep his freedom and sleep with other people. Haydn, on the other hand, wasn't too happy with his antics.
That wasn't to say that Hayd hadn't slept with other people in the time they'd been together, but he only seemed to do it when Ash wasn't there to cure his hormones.
"Sounds about right. What makes this time so different from every other?"
"Rowan got a phone call this morning from someone talking about a debt that needs paid."
"That and I tried to contact him. He seems weak."
Hayd looked down and pushed his plate away. "Serves him right really."
"Hayd, please. He's in trouble. Save your resentments for when we get him back."
She stood up and left, taking the stairs two at a time to get to the library. She could hear the others following behind her but at a distance.
The door was closed when she got there and there was silence from behind. She put her ear to the door to listen. Silence.
"Jer?"
She waited. He'd hear her. All she had to do was wait.
Charlie wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. "I'll get dressed." It was his turn to take the steps two at a time.
Both rowan and Haydn watched him go, naked butt and all.
"Eyes off. He's mine."
Hayd chuckled. He replaced Charlie by standing behind her and wrapping his own arms around her waist. "No worries. I'm not his type." He blew into her ear. "I'm sorry."
She knew the apology was for his comment in the kitchen but she strugged it off, not making it clear whether she accepted it or not. He sighed. He'd expected nothing less. The two of them got along great, but when it came to their views on Ash's promiscuous ways, they had a definite clash of belief.
It wasn't that Rowan didn't see why Hayd didn't like his ways, she just knew exactly what life had thrown Ash's way before they'd got out on their own, and knew the reasons for his wanting to stay free a little longer.
The door to the library opened and Jer stood there, as same as ever.
"Where's Charlie?" He turned and walked back into the room. As usual, they followed.
"Getting dressed."
Jer raised an eyebrow.
"He decided to play naked waiter this morning." Hayd said it too casually that Rowan laughed out loud. Jer sent another eyebrow raise their way.
Charlie chose that minute to reenter the room. "What's this?"
"Playing naked waiter?" Charlie's jaw dropped.
"Me? Never. Simply obeying the commands of my stomach. That's all."
Jer just shook his head and resumed pacing the floor in his usual way. It wasn't that much of a surprise that Charlie, or anyone, was wandering the house naked. They'd all been naked in front of Jer before. Somehow, Jer was the one than seemed to be dressed where ever he was around the house. They'd seen him during transformations, but even then he had a certain knack for staying modest. "I take it he knows?" The question was aimed towards Rowan and Charlie. They nodded. "Okay. That makes this easier..."
Haydn rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to go on some epic freak out."
Jer acted like he hadn't spoken. "Ash was asleep when I tried to contact him. It took more effort than usual, which suggests he has been drugged, but they're mostly out of his system now. As for where he is, all he knows is that he left with a guy and his place was west bound out of town. He doesn't remember much of what happened after he got there. He thinks his drink was spiked. Right now, he's tied in a dark cell some where with absolutely no idea what's going on. He feels weak and bruised, but otherwise okay. He hasn't seen or heard from anyone all day."
"What did the guy look like?"
"Tall, dark hair, good looking. That's not enough to go on. He did say that he remembers the scent of sandalwood and that the guy was well dressed."
Rowan sighed. "Where was he last night? He went out with the rest of you didn't he? When did he leave?"
Hayd snorted. "Probably at the Worthard Thorn. He was mixing with everyone at that place. Talking to a lot of guys. There were probably about a dozen who looked like that description."
Charlie stood up. "It's a starting point. We good to go?" He looked at Jer.
"You and Haydn are heading towards the Priceton District. See if you can pick up his scent there. Rowan, you're coming with me to check out the club. Unfamiliar faces are a strenght for us." They nodded. Jer looked back at the guys. "If you pick up anything then follow it as far as you can. Ash says the guy lived in an appartment building with a large grassy area outside of it. If you lose the scent then do the other thing, and go back there after dark to scent it out properly."
He nodded and turned around, marking an end to the conversation. The guys left. Jer looked to her and nodded. They left too.

[NotAlice]

Chapter Two- Nights' Secrets
From the outside the club looked like every other building in the area - Three story brick buildings with widely spaced, small windows, and one standard sized from door. The only thing that made it stand out even remotely was the flickering Neon name sign above the door. Only a few of the letters were actually lit up, with the one on the end flickering on every few seconds.
It read as ' or rd T or', though 'orn' occasionally.
The place deffinitely looked as though it had seen better days, and rowan couldn't help but scrunch her nose up at it. Why would the guys have come here of all places last night. There were better night clubs a five minute walk away in jazzy, modern buildings, rather than this one which had probably seen better days.
The street was what you'd expect in such a place. Dark and sparsely lit, with the streetlights mimicing the neon sign in its effect. A blanket of silence lay heavy over the place, with the smell of vomit and old chip shop chips staining the air - a reminder of the previous nights 'activity'.
Part of her wondered what this place would look like with 'activity'. She could picture drunks and skanks, whores and prostitutes. Not a place she could picture finding the pack, or her brother.
Jer placed a hand on her back and guided her across the road.
"You actually came here last night?" She couldn't keep the disbelieving tone from her voice.
"Don't sound so condensing. But no, I personally, did not. I received a call from someone at the Claytone on West Way. Where the others went after that point was none of my concern."
Rowan seen another look at the building. "Not the sort of place I'd expect them to visit..."
"I know. But, I think it is a case of 'don't judge the book by its cover' changed to 'don't judge the building by its exterior'." He pushed open the door, making her wince at the loud creak. She had a bad feeling about the place already. "Let's go."
There was a long corridor into the place that seemed to slope very slightly downward, making Rowan feel like she was going under ground. The feeling of wrongness increased the further in they went. "Jer..."
"I know."
The rest of the walk was completed in silence.
The corridor ended at another door. The closer they got the the door the more they began to hear the tell tale sounds of a heavy beat. Without their enhanced hearing of being wolves, she doubted that either of them would have heard anything at all. There seemed to be some sort of sound proofing on the door. A worry, she though, and wondered what sort of things went on behind there if they needed really good sound proofing in a club. Surely there weren't enough people living in the area to complain about the noise. Thinking back, Rowan wasn't sure whether she'd seen any housing at all as they got into that area of town.
Jer reached around her and opened the door and the intensity of the sound and brightness that hit them was enough to make they both step back and wince. Enhanced wolf senses weren't in their favor in that moment.
Reluctantly, Rowan went in. Jer followed and pulled the door shut behind them.
She felt as if her jaw had hit the floor. A DJ stood with a full set of equiptment on the stage, mixing tunes, while a crowd of at least fifty people were on the dance floor. That wasn't including the number of people who were sitting or standing around the room.
For a Sunday mid morning, there seemed to be a little too much activity. Rowan had been expecting the place to be as dark and eerie as the corridor along had been, with maybe a few drunks sitting in the corners, and maybe a few whores passed out on the floor.
She wasn't expecting an overflowing room of people partying as if it was a Friday or Saturday night in a room full of laser lights and disco balls, that reflective around a very modern looking room. It was hard to believe that this place was even in the same world as the dank building she'd walked into, and the dim corridor she'd walked down. This room seemed far too out of place. And the people... Rowan just stood there for several minutes, looking from face to face around the room. Women were dressed up in expensive dresses and with fancy expensive -looking hair styles and almost professional looking make up (compared to her memories of make up applying horrors). The men were also well dressed, some just in shirts, others in full suits.
It was almost as if this was a club for the top people, to CEO's and the top of the food chain.
Rowan noticed a few people throwing glares her way. She looked down at herself. In her rather casual jeans and t-shirt it was clear why they were perhaps less than impressed she was there. She couldn't help but feel quite self conscious and part of wished that Charlie or Haydn had given her some hint as to the kind of get- up the place required. Of course, they'd never think to do something like that.
She seemed to snap back to reality again when Jer led her towards the bar that was against the back wall.
There were four members of staff back there - two men and two women. They all looked to be in their mid twenties to early thirties, with a uniform that was clearly meant to impress. There was one of the staff, a blond haired man with some seriously impressive muscles that showed through from under the skin tight uniform, who watched them as they approached. He looked them up and down, clearly as impressed with their casual wear as all the others around the room were. Jer looked completely unfazed under the scrutiny, which was typical Jer really.
As they got there, Jer pulled something out of his pocket at waited. The bartender made a big deal of drying whatever it was he had in his hand to the highest attainable level of perfection. Only afterwards did he make a move to slowly meander over to them. Jer didn't say a thing throughout the whole process, just kept his eyes on the younger man.
The blonde stopped in front of where they stood, making eye contact with Jer, neither man saying a word. Something about him and the way that acted seemed odd to Rowan. There was something unusual about him, she just couldn't quite place what. What she could place, was the battle for dominance that was passing between them. The silence dragged on with neither man willing to back down.
Rowan tried to surrepticiously scent him out, trying search for any telltale signs that the man in front of her was a wolf. There was something in the way he wouldn't back down from Jer's gaze that made her feel as if, just perhaps, this man knew who Jer was.
She couldn't pick up any obvious signs or scents that cried wolf, but then, there was something... artificial in the way he smelled, she just couldn't place what that was. It frustrated her that there was so much that she couldn't place.
As time passed, minutes dragging, it was Rowan that snapped first. "I'll take a coke please, ice, no lemon. Sound good?"
The bartender's gaze jumped to her, clearly not expecting the interuption. She tried to pretend that she couldn't hear Jer attempting to laugh silently next to her, but a smirk still passed her lips. The bartender clearly thought she was mocking him in some way, feeling triumphant over making him be the first to break the deadlock between himself and Jer. He tried to hold her eyes, but she rolled them and looked to Jer. "What about you? Shot of the strong stuff or are you playing safe?"
"Soda. Ditch the ice." The bartender nodded stiffly and got their drinks, making sure to pour them far from full. He put them on the counter in front of them, and held out a hand for the money. "Oh, and perhaps you recognise this man?"
Silvery- grey eyes shot to the photo that Jer held out in front of him.
"Should I?" He didn't take his eyes off the picture.
"He was here last night. Were you working?" The man nodded. "Then you should recognise him."
"What's it mean to me. People pass through here all the time. Hundreds a day. It's not my job to memorize their faces."
Rowan paused, something in his voice stirred a memory. His gaze shot to her then back to Jer again. She added it to the list of things that she couldnt place, but let her mind keep wizzing over who it might be.
"Then perhaps one of your co-workers will have more luck." It wasn't a question and it wasn't intended to be one. Jer was an alpha, and this man, whoever he was, had blatently challenged his authority. Jer was in no mood for niceities. He made it a command.
She could see the cogs spinning in his head as he contemplated whether to do the smart thing and listen Jer's command, or ignore it, which if he knew what Jer was, he would know that would mean potential pack questioning.
The blonde clearly had some sense as he caught the attention of the nearest one to him, signalling for her to finish serving then come up.
"She worked last night. The others didn't. I doubt she'll know much more."
With that, he walked away, heading up to the very top of the bar where a small queue had gathered.
It didn't take long before the girl had finished and walked up to where they were. She, at least, seemed to be in a slightly happier, cherpier mood than the blonde guy.
"Hi, how can I help?" She looked at the drinks in front of them and her brows scrunched together slightly.
"Two things," said Jer. He pushed their drinks closer to her. "Firstly, these hardly seem to be full glasses, especially since we didn't get change from a ten." He nodded towards the blonde. "A little unfair, don't you think?"
The girl gushed apologies, topping their glasses up to as far as she could, and fumbling for change out of the till. Rowan could see the blonde watching her and scowling.
"The second thing," Jer held out the photo, "You recognise this man?"
Something sparked in the other girls eyes. "Oh yes. He was here last night. Quite a Mr. Popular. A friend of yours?"
This girl clearly hadn't realized that Ash was gay, or if she did, she didn't care. She stood up a little straighter, the buttons on her shirt almost fit to burst. Rowan really didn't know what to make of the uniform around here.
"Yes." Keep details to a minimum - that was how Jer liked to work. "Can you tell us what time he left here? Or rather, who with?"
She looked back at the photo, forehead creased with thought. "They came in here just after twelve... The rest didn't stay for long. Maybe half an hour. He stayed a while longer though. That guy," She waved a hand towards the photo. "I think he was still here after one. There were some guys - regulars - hanging out in their usual booth in the far corner. He was hanging with them. I guess he was friends with one of them. They were talking a lot..."
Jer and Rowan shared a glance. Jer spoke next. "Is that who he left with?"
The girl shook her head. "He left alone. Alexander stayed here another quarter of an hour or so. Tony might know more. He was outside on a break around the same time he left."
"Tony?"
The girl nodded feverishly. "Yeah, Tony. The guy who served you before. He looks a bit of weirdo but he's nice enough if you can get him to talk."
Tony himself chose that moment to look back. If he was human he wouldn't have been able to hear what the girl had just said. Other than that, it seemed quite a coincidence that he chose that monemt to turn back around.
Rowan kept looking at Tony's re-turned back. "He said he didn't know anything about him - said he doesn't recognise his face."
"Oh, what nonsense! He served him several times. He was totally checking him out." She grinned. "Tony's still a little in the closet, but we can all see where his eyes are leading him."
His shoulders tensed from where he stood at the far side of the bar. He could definietly hear what they were saying.
Interesting... He may not smell wolf, but he definitely had some wolf- like qualities.
Jer laughed, playing up to the girls talk. That was another Jer- typical thing. He could be as quite and serious as he wanted to be, but when he needed to, he knew exactly how to act to get people talking, without giving any real information away. Rowan kept quite, leaving him to it. In no time at all, he had the girl calling Tony back over from the far end of the bar.
Tony ignored her at first. A well timed case of selective deafness. "Tony!"
Tony headed towards them, killing time by serving two more people along the way. He stopped in front of them.
"Tony, you know this guy." She pointed to the photo Jer held. "He was here last night, remember? You served him a few times. He was chatting to you..."
"No. I don't remember."
"Don't play dumb of course you do. The guy who ended up with his shirt undone? He was sitting down the far end with the usual bunch. Friends with Alexander - and don't say you still don't know! You do, you jealous git."
Jer and Rowan shared amused looks. This was turning into quite a show.
Tony stood there silent and tense, and Rowan was sure he looked tenser than what she had when she'd been receiving those phone calls a few hours earlier and just finding out about Ash.
"Maybe. I talked to a lot of people last night. It comes with the job."
"You don't show them all your tatoo." The girl looked smug. "So now that it's decided that, yes, you do know who we're talking about, these people would like to know what happened when he left. You were outside on your break then. Tell the goss."
The girl was really beginning to grow on Rowan. She had a quirky personality - a no- nonsense sort of girl. One not afraid to tell it how it was to the others, even those who were about 3 foot taller than her, as was the case between her and Tony.
Tony sighed, defeated. The girl looked at Jer and winked as if to say 'knew I'd get him to cave'. Jer, being Jer and still playing into her game, winked back.
"He left alone. Stood outside the doors for a few minutes. We talked. We argued. He left. I came back in. He was a bit of a prick." He seemed to rethink his words. "He was a complete prick."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "You seemed to get along fine when you were in here showing him your tatts."
He ignored her. Jer asked, "What did you argue about?"
Tony shrugged. "Nothing in particular. He was just a cocky bastard with an oversized ego. It was more a conflict of ideas that anything."
That wasn't hard for Rowan to believe. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. Both the girl and Tony looked at her. "Sorry, that's just far too believable. His ego and alcohol are are very friendly terms."
Both of them and Jer cracked a smile. At least Tony was warming up slightly and talking to them.
Jer decided to steer the conversation in another direction. "What about this 'Alexander' guy? Who's he?"
"Oh, Alexander is a regular here. He gets a lot of attention
"From who?"
"The girls... The guys... Everyone. He brushes most of it off. He's nice enough but I don't know if I've ever really seen him chatting any one up, or talking to anyone he hasn't met before. That's why I'd guess he was a friend of that guy you know - Alexander never stopped talking to him."
Jer looked to Tony who had gone quite, his attention seemed to have drifted elsewhere. "Did you see him leave too?"
"He was leaving as I came back in. He asked which way he went then left."
"What did you tell him?"
Tony shrugged. "Just that he went left through the alley. I didn't know any more than that." He looked behind him. "Can I go? We've got queues."
With a nod and from Jer and a muttered thanks from Rowan, Tony left. Jer turned back to the girl. "This Alexander guy - tall, dark hair?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Really good looking too. Sorry, but Tony's right. Queue's are growing. There's not a lot else I can tell you." She grabbed pen and paper from her pocket and scribbled something down. "Here, any more questions then call me. I'll see what I can do." With a last smile for the two of them she vanished down the bar, apologising for the delay and diving straight into taking orders, appearing to start serving three guys at ones.
Jer and Rowan picked up their untouched drinks and moved away from the bar, wandering slowly towards the bottom booth that the girl had mentioned. Rowan looked at the sheet of paper Jer held.
'Shelley'. At least that gave Rowan something to refer to her as other just 'the girl'.
"When we reach that table, I'll drop some coins. You go for any as close to the table as possible, and see if you can grab Ash's scent while you're down there. You're more attuned to his scent that I am."
She nodded. Sometimes, it was necessary for them to create little diversions like that if they needed to scent something out. Most ordinary people began to get a little concerned when they saw others bending down and putting their noses to the ground, so sometimes dropped items or loose shoe laced were quick fix to the problem. If they really wanted to get a good grasp of a scent, or to find a feinter one, they'd need to wait till dark and return as wolves. Though that of course, was no good inside building, especially not this one.
The place still held that feeling of wrongness that she'd first sensed upon entering, but she was beginning to see the appeal in it. It was a nice enough place once you were inside.
Jer steered her over towards the wall, pointing towards a painting in an over- the- top kind of way. The act had begun.
There were a few people sitting at the booth, but only one of them had appeared to be paying them any attention. As it became clear that Jer and Rowan weren't interested in them, he turned his focus back to his group.
It was only as they reached the table did Jer stick his hand in his pocket, flicking out several coins as discretely as he could.
"Shit." He lunged as if trying to catch them. Rowan played along.
"No worries. Here," She handed him her drink, "I'll grab 'em."
The first few coins had fell to just in front of the table, but there were a few that were further underneath. She apologised to the men at the table, who were now paying attention to them, before ducking underneath. She could hear Jer also apologising, and keeping them distracted. She leaned as far under the table as she could get, breathing in deep through her nose, trying to distinguish one scent from another. All of the guys sitting at the table had a very distinct smell, and all the alcohol from the area was rather overwhelming too. It too a few deep breathes but she manages to get her nose to smell past that, and focus on looking for the familiar scent that was her brother. She found it -feint, but there. There was something else interesting too... There was a strong smell of... sandalwood... One of the smells that Ash had mentioned?
She crawled back out from under the table and stood, taking back her drink and replacing it with the coins. She caught Jer's eye and gave a small nod. "I couldn't spot any more. I don't know how much you dropped though."
"No worries, Love. What I don't know I've lost wont hurt me." He slung an arm casually around her shoulders - still in the game.
One of the guys nodded to her, and she smiled and looked down. A normal person would look a little embarrassed after crawling on the floor between people's legs, right? She subconsciously reached down and brushed off her knees. The last thing she needed was to be looking like any more of a scruff in this upitty- well-dressed place.
Jer's gaze went to the painting on the wall. One of the men followed his gaze.
"Unusual thing, isn't it?"
"Hmm... rather. It just caught my attention, that's all."
Rowan looked herself, but tore her gaze away. It had just seemed like a strange blur of colors form a distance, but the tangled sprawl of bodies became clearer up close.
"Not for the faint hearted, eh?" She felt as if the men was mocking her and forced herself to look back. On second glance, the bodies seemed more... alive than dead. She looked for a title. 'Satan's Cove'. A fitting name for such a...satire painting. The faces appeared to be caught in moments of extacy and pain combined. Twisted to extortionate positions that looked painful to her eyes.
"You're wondering how anyone can like such stuff, aren't you?" A different man spoke. He was possibly the oldest of the group, with grey streaked hair and a scar beneath his right eye. "You'll be surprised, Love."
Jer stared at him, unblinking. The other mad seemed to shrink back under his gaze, murmuring an apology. The guy in the middle, the one she thought held the smell of sandalwood, smirked at the older man.
"Well, sorry disturb you." With a slight incline of his head, Jer steared her away from them. They finished the last of their drinks quickly, leaving them at the bar as the passed on their way out. Shelley spotted them and waved. They waved back.
As they began treck back out of the building, Jer asked her what she'd found.
"There's a lot of strong smells around there but there are underlying traces that suggest Ash has been there recently. The guy in the middle, dark hair - I'm pretty sure smelt of sandalwood. Perhaps Alexander?"
Jer nodded thoughfully.
"Did I hear my name?" They both jumped and turned at the new voice behind them, not expecing to see the man in question standing by the door. Funny, she thought, that neither of them had heard him leave the room, and that the strong sound of the heave beat of the music and the chatter hadn't grown stronger. Both of them just stood there, waiting for him to continue. He did. "Alexander Du'Marcus."
He held out a hand as he approached, first shaking Jer's and the Rowans.
"How did you get out here without us noticing?" Jer shot her a glare but it was too late. The question had been asked.
Alexander chucked. "I'm a frequent visitor. I know the tricks of the trade - or rather, I know where the other door is."
That, Rowan though, shouldn't have mattered. Different door or not they still should have heard it as it opened and shut behind them. Jer spoke before she could.
"Why did you follow us out?"
"I was curious. There seemed to be something about you that struck me as odd. Seems I was right. Why does what I smell like interest you?" He looked to Rowan as he said it. She breathed in deep and the strong smell of sandalwood and man filled her nostrils, She could still smell Jar's rahter spicy scent too. A heady mix of masculine smells that made her feel light headed.
"We're looking for someone. Someone who was here last night. We've been told you were one of the key people he saw last night."
"That doesn't explain your interest in what I smell like."
"The person we're looking for remembers sandalwood and dark hair. Sound like someone you know?"
Alexander chuckled. "It might. You're looking for Ash then. A wolf in sheeps clothing."
Rowan raised an eyebrow, trying to decipher the meaning of that.
Jer spoke, "He left here before you did. Not long later you followed him out and asked the bartender on his way back if he'd seen which way he'd gone. He told you the alley. Yes?"
A look of confusion passed his face. "No... I left just after and saw the bartender coming out of the alley. Ash was sitting on the kerb just in front of it. The two were glaring at each other. They looked like they'd been fighting, or Ash did at least."
The two stories weren't adding up, so where was the lie? The bartender had been very reluctant to speak to them and took ages to admit knowing Ash, but this guy was sounding like the guy that Ash had seen last. Rowan wasn't prepared to put her trust in either man at that point. There were too many loop holes.
"Where did you go?"
"Ash was trying to chat it up, but I wasn't really interested in that. I just thought he needed the cut on his head looked at. Nothing against him or anything, but..." He looked away awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable in discussing his own sexuality.
"Not your type?" Rowan was always amused at how much men wanted to hide their sexualities. Alexander looked really unsure, the calm and collected man who had sat at the table inside was gone, replaced with this weak, almost vulnerable looking man, all because his sexuality was being brought into question.
"I wouln't put it like that... I just... You know. He needed looked at. We caught a cab back to time. He had a few whiskeys and passed out on the couch. Drank himself to oblivion. I left him there. I don't know where he went or what time, but he wasn't there at nine this morning. I assumed he just woke up early." He was regaining a little of his composure as the topic moved away from his preferences.
Rowan still didn't know what to make of him. There was something about him, a sort of aura about him that she had come to associate with a predator, but no matter how far or often her nose delved, she still couldn't pick up the scent of wolf beneath the sandalwood and man. Despite that, she was sure he wasn't quite human. There was something in the way he responded to readily to the idea of her recognising his scent, and that whole bit of conversation that convinced her that there was somthing there, she just wasn't seeing it. Or smelling it as the case may be."
Jer spoke again. "Was there any signs that he'd left there unwillingly? That there'd been any sort of struggle?"
Alexander shook his head. "The only thing I might consider 'memorable' was when his phone rang just after he'd passed out. I answered it. Some creepy- sounding guy was talking nonsense. I hung up. He didn't call back. I went to bed. That's all I know."
Rowan wondered if he was refering to the same creepy voice that had been on the phone to her that morning. "I don't suppose the guy on the phone talked in rhyme, did he?"
Alexander seemed to think about it, replaying the memory in his mind. "Possibly. I don't know if I'd have called it rhyme per say, but there was something funny in the way he spoke. Almost as if he wanted to sound poetic and mystical. It didn't work too well. I just found him a bit of a creep and hung up."
Funny, Rowan thought, that the caller had tried contacting Ash first.
Jer nodded slowly, distracted. This wasn't helping them find where Ash was right now. From what they'd heard, it was somewhere out there had a head injury. Rowan had to wonder, was Jer right in saying he'd been drugged, or was it just due to an alcohol inflicted handover combined with a knock to the head? To be honest, she wasn't sure what was worse.
What she did want right now, was to get out of this building and call Charlie to see if they'd found anything. Though chances were they hadn't had much more luck than them.
"Look, you can come back to mine and have a look around if you like. You know, see if there's anything that looks suspicious to you - break in signs. If anyone had tried to break in then the alarm system should have gone off but I'm not holding much force in those words - it wouldn't be the first time I've forgot to reset it after getting home late."
Jer agreed. It seemed like they'd found their next port of call.

[ASGetty ((Zovo))]

Nov 6, 2011 13:03:15 GMT -5 NotAlice said:

It's awful. Don't read it. I just need a more reliable back up source.

As long as Taed is here, you may want to consider storing things elsewhere.

[NotAlice]

Chapter Three- Dark Corners

The ride to Alexander's house was a quiet one, with Jer driving, Alexander giving directions, and Rowan sitting in the back thinking over everything that had happened so far. It was hard to believe that it was only just coming up to one o'clock, after everything that had already happened that day.
The one thing she really couldn't understand was how this caller person had got Ash's number in the first place. Did that mean the caller was someone Ash knew?
If it was, did that mean it was some one he trusted? Someone that he knew well? Outside of the pack, Rowan couldn't really think of any key people that Ash spoke to on a regualr basis. Maybe it was a past lover. That was the best explanation she could think of. Ash had been part of plenty of one night stands, and not- so- one-night stands. Haydn still meant everything to him, but when it came to sex, monogamy just wasn't an option.
Rowan could understand why Ash didn't want to settle down or put too much of his trust into another person. That wasn't to say that Ash didn't trust Hayd, he just wasn't really to commit to him in a way that could potentially mean he became dependant on another person. As far as she could tell, the only person that Ash would trust that much was her, which she wasn't totally against.
When they'd been younger they'd grown up as part of a pack. It had been an unofficial pack of the outskirts, but it had been a pack all the same. Her grandfather had been in charge of it at the time she was growing up. She'd never really understood the true extent of why her and Ash here such outcasts, but she knew it had something to do with their father.
Their mother had been away with her sisters one weekend, and the group had become separated. It had been too close to the moon and the blood lust was running high. It had reached the point where it was all but consuming her. She'd escaped into a graveyard that night, hoping that it would keep her away from any unsuspecting human victims who, in the state she was in, wouldn't have had a chance in hell of surviving a night with a wolf in blood lust. She hadn't been too far gone to think of the consequences of that happening.
Beyond that, Rowan's knowledge of what had happened was shady. She knew that her mother's plan had failed, and she had attacked the first person she saw, jumping his bones and riding out her bloodlust till the red haze dissapeared from her vision and her body and mind were back unde rher full control.
Their mother had never told them what she remembered about the man who was their father, chosing to change the topic everytime it had been mentioned. But, it had been obvious to them growing up that whoever he had been, he was the reason that they'd never been fully accepted by the 'pack'. The only reason they'd been allowed to live was because of their mother, and her fierce arguments with their grandfather over whether they should be allowed to live. Being his oldest child, their grandfather granted them permission to live, but he made no promises that their life would be easy. And easy it was not.
For years other pack members had sneered on them, treating them like scum and making them do the grunt work. There were some members of the pack who had made shots at their lives, taking them into caves and up mountains under the pretense of teaching them to hunt and scavenge, but taking a swipe to knock them down great hights, or into rivers, or get them lost deep in ice cold caves.
The number of times the two of them had crawled hom with scraped and bruises, broken bones or concussions were endless. Most of the time though, the behavior was left to be, with no one really caring about what happened to them in the long run. It was left to their mother to heal them after that.
Because of the two of them, and the 'trouble' they were claimed to have caused, their mother became a nobody, losing whatever respect she'd gained before having them once we were born. It was clear, with time, that they were as much of a nuscience to their mother as they were to the rest of the pack. Needless -to -say, the relationship between them had never been a particularly good one.
As they hit their teen years, still resisting and refusing to die, they were told on a frequent bases how much their mother resented them for the way her life had turne out, and how she wished that they would hurry up and grow up, because she wanted shod of them.
Rowan had once asked her mother why the three of them didn't just leave. The screams about imminant death were enough to deter her from asking again.
By the time they were sixteen Ash and Rowan were gone, leaving the night before their birthday and hitting the road.
They were as eagar to to get out of that place as the pack were to have them gone. One of the reasons, being the explanation for why Ash refused to commit.
They'd been teenages, and they were no exception to the anguish of teenage emotion. Rowan, for one, had stayed away from the other wolves her age, not trusting them with her heart, her mind, or her body. Ash, however, was a little less cautious.
He'd accepted his sexuality at the age of fourteen, admitting to Rowan that he found guys more attractive that girls, but they made a promise between themselves that they'd never mention it out loud around the pack. It would mean certain hell for Ash if the others had found out.
It seemed that, even though the two of them had kept the secret silent, Ash hadn't done a very good job of acting his part. Some of the other wolves, mostly ones around their age, had picked up on where Ash looked, noticing that his gaze would often linger on some of the guys. They'd teased him endlessly at first, throwing insults and using it as an excuse for blackmail, threatening to tell his grandfather if he didn't do what they wanted.
For a while, he kept up with it, until a lot of the comments had died down. It had been naive of them to think that it was caused by the others deciding they weren't worth the hassle, while what they'd really been doing was planning.
The other's had picked up on one wolf that Ash seemed to look at most. He was only a year or so older than Ash and Rowan, and he was the son of one of the most cunning wovles in the pack - a wolf who wanted the position of alpha from their grandfather.
The plan had involved that wolf making nice with Ash, pretending to sneak out with him after hours, making friends, playing nice. Little did Ash know that it was all a plot to smash him down to smitherines and reveal him to the pack.
It worked.
After several months of sneaking around, the other wolf set Ash a senario. To run away with him, or he'd leave him and tell everyone te truth of what he was.
Ash chose option one. The other wolf didn't tell him that he'd 'hired' the other's to patrol the perimeter. Ash was caught by the other wolfs' father and dragged down in front of the alpha and the truth shouted out so all the pack could hear. Ash had looked to Reece, the wolf who had betrayed him, to see him laughing and mocking him along with the others. the betrayal had hurt. Big time.
Life hadn't been any better after that, and they'd made their big escape as soon as they could, breaking away from the pack and getting out into the world on their own, sticking with the only people they knew they could trust to the bitter end. Each other.
The fact that Ash had given as much of himself to Haydn as he had was a surprise enough for Rowan. But the fact he still kept some distance and didn't give himself entirely to him, was the part that Rowan expected and understood, even if Haydn didn't. It wasn't that Haydn didn't know the story of what had happened, it was just that words couldn't put into perspective just how hard life had been on them, and Hayd could never understand fully what Ash had been through.
Sometimes though, Rowan could understand where Haydn was coming from, and sympathised with him, wondering if surely he'd done enough to earn a little more of her brothers trust and respect that what he was being given then.
Speaking of Haydn, her phone chose that minute to ring, dragging her mind out of the past and into the present. The familiar tune that she associated with pack calls was growing louder in her pocket. She could see Jer and Alexander watching her through the rear view mirror.
She looked to caller ID. Charlie.
"News?"
"Good day to you, too. Yes I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking." Haydn's voice came thick with sarcasm down the line.
"Hayd?"
"Who else were you expecting?"
"Well... Charlie perhaps? Seeing as you're using Charlie's phone?" A few seconds of silence met her.
"Point taken." He surrendered, "Any luck?"
Rowan met Jer's eyes in the mirror briefly. Something in his steady gaze made her feel as if she should keep her words to a minimum. "Some. You?"
"We went to the Princeton District. Started our day in the local library - strange place. Too many books." Rowan scoffed. He ignored her and continued. "Point being, we narrowed down what appartments met Ash's description and found five in the area. We've worked out way around the loop from the ones that seemed most likely to the one that seemed least. Out of the five, we hit gold on stop four. Want the address?"
Again, Rowan looked to Jer, who shook his head very slightly. She couldn't help but let her gaze drift over to Alexander. He may not be wolf, but she was sure he wasn't human either. That raised the question, how much of their conversation could he hear?"
"No. We're heading out to that general direction as it is. Hang around. One of us will call you later." Jer gave a discrete nod of approval. "How much did you find?"
She got no response, then a squeal of tires and someone shout was all she heard, before the phone disconnected. "Haydn?... Haydn!?"
She looked at Jer's reflection. He didn't look back, just floored the accelerator, overtaking sevaral cars and trying to urge the car faster.
Alexander turned in his seat to look at her. "What are your friends doing in the Princeton District?"
So he could hear the other end of her conversation after all, probably as well as Jer had been able to. "Why are you listening in to my conversation?"
"You answer my question, I'll answer yours."
Funny, she thought, that it wasn't that long ago he'd lost all him composer, and now here he was trying to one up her. "Working." was the only answer she would provide him. "Your turn."
"Curiosity."
"How? You're not wolf?"
"That's two questions. That's not fair."
"Life never is. Answer my question and I'll answer yours properly." She smirked, watching something flash in his eyes as he heard his own words being played against him, and knowing she'd managed to turn the tables on him.
He looked away, returning his gaze to the road. Several minutes passed and Rowan began to suspect she wasn't going to get an answer, so it surprised her when he did speak again, albeit quietly. "I'm not wolf. But I'm not exactly human either."
He didn't tell her anything that she didn't already know.
She waited. He'd have felt her eyes on him.
"It's complicated. I can't explain it right now."
"You better start trying." It was the first time Jer had spoken aloud in ages and it caught both of them off guard. Jer never took his eyes off the road, but it was no question who his next comment was aimed at, "Anyone who poses a threat to my pack I have the right to find out about. And I'll find out in any way I have to."
Rowan shuddered. She remembered when she'd first met Jer - he'd said a variation of those words to her and Ash at that time. They were words so full of promise and intent, hidden behind them a simple meaning. Don't fuck with my Pack, or I'll fuck with you. He meant it too.
"Have you ever heard of the Boston-Lea Grounds?" Rowan shook her head. Jer didn't move, just kept driving. Alexander kept speaking. "It was an old military camp that was shut down years ago. It was re-opened by the military but not for troops, for lab testing. It was something of a secretive operation that went on for years, until they were caught and shut down again."
"What were they testing?"
"Samples. Specimen. 'Immortal beings'. It was a miliatry run operation. They were trying to find what parts of certain species, what part of their DNA, gave them the enhancements that they have. The idea was to isolate those sections of DNA to replicate, and to eventually grow their own superhuman army of semi-immortal beings." There was something in his voice as he said it, something Rowan took for resentment.
But why? "You were one of the scientists?"
He scoffed. "Was I hell. I was one of their creations. One of the first. And even now one of the only ones to survive so long."
"You mean there are others?"
A group of military lunatics catching and tesing on superhuman beings such as werewolves and then sucessfully creating a 'child' that held those qualities, assumably without the drawbacks.
"Of course there are others. There were ten of us in the first batch. Three of them were lost at an early stage, others died through various problems and causes over the years. There are only 2 of us now. As for other batches I don't know. They had a lot of problems after us. They tried to improve their methods but it only made things worse. I don't know how many there still are in total today."
She couldn't even begin to think of a response. The very idea was horrid. Who could do that? Make children just to test on, not caring when more than half of them died.
"What changes?"
They wanted an army, not a nursery. After the first batch they realized that their biggest problem was the amount of time it would take to get an army the size that they wanted. The 'army' would be there, but children are of very little use in a war situation." Alexander drifted off, lost in his thoughts.
What must that be like? To be raised to form part of an army? An experiment? Who mothered these lab creations? Who raised them? Loved them? Were they ever loved at all or just seen as an object of the lab's creation? Raised for war and raised to serve... What sort of life had Alexander known? Something in Rowan felt for him.
"How did they plan to avoid the complication fo age? It wouldn't be possible to skip that stage..." Jer floored the accelerator again, speeding through a set of red lights as he spoke. Horns honked and tires screeched behind them. Jer drove on.
Alexander sighed. "I'm not sure how or where they found it, but there was something they found, a chemical of sorts, that sped up growth and aging. At first it didn't work. There were several batches that didn't even make it past the cell stages before the cells became deformed and the results destroyed. They altered it again and again, trying different DNA combinations with different levels of the substance, and different variants. I'm not sure of the details. I was still young then. I'd hear snippets of conversations and see the results of them, but I wasn't old enough to understand."
Something flickered in his eyes - like he was replaying some horror, some memory in his mind. "What happened?" Rowan was leaning forward in her seat so as not to miss a word of what was being said.
"The first successful batch, with the growing agent, only worked to an extent. The bodies grew at an incredible rate, but their minds didn't develop with them. After a year, they were raising babies with adult bodies. I don't know how much you know about raising kids, but toddlers get themselves into a lot of bumps and bangs, and putting them in adult bodies made those bumps and bangs a heck of a lot more disasterous. Kids are drawn towards things that they shouldn't touch and they know are out of bound. Usually the fix is to put them up a hight, somewhere that kids can't reach. That doesn't work so well when the kids in question are in the bodies of adults. One of the started a fire in the lab. Burned himself to smitherines and took most of the labs previous records with him."
Rowan shuddered. Did these people have no morals or ethics at all? The very idea of it was making her feel physically sick.

Jerr breaked suddenly, as they flew forward in their seats. Rowan's attention snapped back to the road outside of the window. They were met with flashing blue lights of police cars and several ambulances. Her heart lept somewhere up to somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. Without even thinking about it her fingers hit redial, hoping desperately for either Charlie or Haydn to pick up, for some reassurance that they weren't involved in the reason the sirens were screaming out through the day. Her heart crashed down to her feet when an unfamiliar voice answered.
"Who is this?" Please, please, please don't let either of them be hurt, her mind was spinning. She couldn't lose anyone else. The day had been bad enough without that anything else to make it worse.
"This is the police. Can I ask who's speaking please?"
Jer and Alexander turned to listen into the call. She hit the volume button on the side of the phone so they could hear better,
"Where's Charlie?"
"I'm sorry miss, who are you looking for?"
"Male. Tall. Well- built. Dark hair... Owner of this phone?"
Silence met her. "The owner of this phone doesn't fit that description or name. I think you've got the wrong-"
"-No. No I don't. Tall with fair hair and a PR-Gren t-shirt? Haydn Marstern?"
She heard a sigh from the other end of the phone. "Can I ask your relationship to Mr. Marstern?"
She wondered which description would fit best, so she said them all. "Roommate, good friend, boyfriends sister... whatever fits you best."
"Thank you for your co- operation." The man on the other end of the phone hung up before she could say anything else. She swore a vulgar chain of explicitives that made both men's eyebrows raise. She hammered the redial button but it rang through to voicemail. She expected no less. God damn him!
Jer hit the automatic lock button on the car doors seconds before she lunged for the nearst one. He knew her too well and knew what to expect. "Running in their screaming and shouting and stomping your feet wont get you very far, Rowan."
Like she didn't know that. She let out a frustrated sigh and closed her eyes, breathing deep and trying to calm her nerves. If she didn't get herself under control then Jer wouldn't let her go anywhere. After several minutes of silence, she felt under control enough to face Jer again. "Okay, so what's the plan?"
Alexander raised an eyebrow but she ignored him.
"We go out there and we stick together. We get as close to the scene as we can, aiming towards where there's the least activity. If there's someone standing around with nothing to do and lookig bored then we have more chance of getting answers. Pay attention."
The sound of the locks un- locking themselves echoes. The sounds of the sirens and engines and shouts of babble of voices met their ears, deafeningly loud. The sounds of horns honking as the traffic continued to pile up also added to the chaos.
There was a gap in the traffic to their right, and they headed in that direction first, weaving around stationary vehicles, trying to keep somewhat out of sight from the police who were wandering and keeping angry and curious drivers back.
They fell into the shade of an ambulance and snook through. Sitting on the back was a man, probably no more than his mid twenties, playing a game on his phone. Rowan looked at Jer who nodded. She left it to him to do the talking.
The guy seemed genuinly surprised to see them, but that surprise quickly passed. The poor bloke looked bored out of his mind. He was just the kind of person they were looking for. He shoved his phone in his pocket and tried to look professional. "You shouldn't be around here."
"We realize that, but we think we may know the people involved, in... whatever it is that has happened. The policeman on the other end of the phone wasn't very specific."
There Jer went again, playing it up to whatever he needed to get the information he wanted. She wished she had that trick as down to a point as he did.
"Not a lot really." The guy was willing to talk just as they expected. It was a common thing that if someone, an official, was set aside from the rest of the ones at a scene, then he or she was usually there because they 'weren't qualified enough' or 'weren't suited for the job'. They tended to be a little sulky about it, so ususally, any chance to look important and clever, they took, regardless of whether it was in a way they should or not. "Hit and run attempt that failed. A guy him someone and tried to get away. Ended up knocking another car up and knocking himself out. Another guy tied him up before calling for help."
Rowan's stomach clenched. Who had been hit? Haydn or Charlie? Or neither? Though, she'd been talking to Haydn when it happened, so that must mean it was Charlie... Oh God's Charlie! She felt as if someone had reached into her chest and clenched icy cold fingers around her heart, freezing her blood and making it difficult to breathe. But, surely she'd have felt it along the connection she had with him if he was hurt. But then, she'd been using the bond that morning and picking up of pin points of emotion from Ash. Had she been brushing off Charlie's pain and thinking it was just Ash? Or was she not feeling anything at all? Why hadn't she thought to use the bond earlier, when she'd first heard the crash, to feel along for Charlie and make sure he was okay?
Alexander must have sensed her distress, and placed a hand on her shoulder pulling her into a very awkward, sideways hug. She appreciated the gesture though. It brough her mind back into focus.
"And the phone that the police have? One they say belongs to Haydn Marstern?"
The guy's eyebrows raised at Jer's question. "I don't know how you know about that, but yeah, he was they guy from the second vehicle. Same guy that took down the idiot driving a four by four."
"If he wasn't hurt then why do they have his phone?"
"Didn't say he wasn't. There were two guys in the car. It took quite a hit. One guy was knocked unconscious, the other, Marstern, was conscious enough to stop the offender and call for help before dropping. Didn't help when the four by four went up in flames either."
It was Rowan's turn to raise a brow. Went up in flames? She looked across to some where closer to where the scene had taken place. There was no tell take flickering of orange or plummets of black smoke to suggest a fire. "There's no smoke..."
The guy, the outcast paramedic, looked at her. "No... Perhaps that was the wrong phrase to use. The underside blew out from a pressure build up in the tank. A lot of the metalwork from the underbody hit the road and flew outwards. The pressure was enough to lift the car up and back by a few feet. The car didn't so much as go 'up in flames' as it did 'out with a bang. The car itself didn't catch fire, or the flames reach the gas tank."
"How did that injure Haydn?"
"He passed out from his injuries on the road. The car blew out and metal flew, and there was a quick blast of flames. He was in a bad position when that occured. Cuts and bruises, and a few minor burns. He'll live though."
She felt quite annoyed with the way he said it, as if it was a story that he'd read out a hundered times before, and was getting bored of. But, that annoyance didn't last long when she noticed the implication of what he'd said. There had been two guys in the car. One being Haydn, which meant that surely the other had been Charlie. The cold fingers that were still clutching at her chest let of and she felt like she could breathe again. He didn't been hit. Neither of them had been the one who recieved the first blow. But... how hurt were they after colliding with the other vehicle. Surely quite badly if they both ended up unconscious... "If he wasn't hurt then why do they have his phone?"
"Didn't say he wasn't. There were two guys in the car. It took quite a hit. One guy was knocked unconscious, the other, Marstern, was conscious enough to stop the offender and call for help before dropping. Didn't help when the four by four went up in flames either."
It was Rowan's turn to raise a brow. Went up in flames? She looked across to some where closer to where the scene had taken place. There was no tell take flickering of orange or plummets of black smoke to suggest a fire. "There's no smoke..."
The guy, the outcast paramedic, looked at her. "No... Perhaps that was the wrong phrase to use. The underside blew out from a pressure build up in the tank. A lot of the metalwork from the underbody hit the road and flew outwards. The pressure was enough to lift the car up and back by a few feet. The car didn't so much as go 'up in flames' as it did 'out with a bang. The car itself didn't catch fire, or the flames reach the gas tank."
"How did that injure Haydn?"
"He passed out from his injuries on the road. The car blew out and metal flew, and there was a quick blast of flames. He was in a bad position when that occured. Cuts and bruises, and a few minor burns. He'll live though."
She felt quite annoyed with the way he said it, as if it was a story that he'd read out a hundered times before, and was getting bored of. But, that annoyance didn't last long when she noticed the implication of what he'd said. There had been two guys in the car. One being Haydn, which meant that surely the other had been Charlie. The cold fingers that were still clutching at her chest let of and she felt like she could breathe again. He didn't been hit. Neither of them had been the one who recieved the first blow. But... how hurt were they after colliding with the other vehicle. Surely quite badly if they both ended up unconscious...
Without really realizing it she felt out 'feelers' along the fragile bond that connected her to Charlie. She recieved a sort of dull, uncertain feeling in return. Drugged, she was sure. She guessed that they must have given him some kind of sedative or something. Maybe just a really strong pain killer?
Jer asked, "Who was hit? Who was the first victim?"
"Some woman who's a hooker. She got herself in all kinds of trouble in this area. She wont be causing trouble any more though."
"Dead?"
"Didn't have much change getting hit at over 60. The idiot more than doubled the speed limit for this street."
Jer nodded, silent. Contemplating. If they weren't in a public place Rowan was sure he'd have been pacing to go with it. "Where are they now? The two men from the car?"
Another ambulance chose that minute to start its engines, the cry of its siren adding to the rest of the noise.
"Off to the Freemason's Hospital for a full check up."
"That's them leaving now?"
"Maybe. I wouldn't know." He was staring off somewhere into the distance. "You wont get through, though. You shouldn't be here. They wont tell you anything."
Alexander scoffed. "Why would they need to? You've told us everything there is to know." The man glared. Alexander ignored him. "What about residents who live here? They'll have to let them through."
The man shrugged. "Residents perhaps. Pity you won't be able to sneak through that way."
This man was really beginning to get on Rowan's nerves now.
"Then it's a good think I wont have to do any sneaking."
He pushed past the man who tried to grab at him and hold him back. Alexander just swatted him off and continued his confident stride forward towards the centre. Jer and Rowan shared a glance, then followed Alexander, ignoring the paramedics' frustrated shouts.
No one bothered them or looked at them until the were practically in the middle of the scene. A police man headed towards them.
Rowan took a few seconds to look around her and take in as much of the grueling scene as she could before he got there. Her eyes were drawn straight to the mauled and twisted carcass of the DBS Volante - a car that she knew well. As she was so familiar with that day, the hand with icy cold fingers reached for her again and made breathing difficult.
The metal structure of the car was twisted into impossible shapes, the front windscreen smashed, the bonnet bent back on itself, and oil leaking out from under the front of the car. Looking through the car, Rowan could see that the far door was opened, left wide, sitting funny on its hinges. The front door closest to her lay appart from the car. It was only then that she noticed the lone fire engine for the first time. How much impact must it have taken to twist the car into such impossible shapes? To jam the lock in the door to the point of fire man intervention? They must of had to wedge the door off its hinges to get in, like the way that was always over dramatisised in movies and television. But why would they need to if the door on the otherside was open? How bad must the injuries have been to require them jimmie that door to get them out?
She tried to recall what the guy had told them about events, and pair it with what she knew. Haydn had been on the phone to her at the time the accident happened, and the guy said that he had been the one who to stay conscious, and grab the other driver and immobilise him. That must have meant that he was sitting on the far side. Which left Charlie on the wedged door side...
It was then that she noticed the dark red stains.
Blood.
She breathed in deep through her nose. It was tangible in the air, the coppery scent of it clinging to her nostrils. Haydn's blood. Charlie's.
The metaphorical hand that had been hoveing around her squeased tight at her now, stealing her breath from her and making her dizzy.
She felt the bile rise to her throat but fought it down, gasping in short gulps of air. The policeman was saying something to Jer and Alexander behind her but she heard nothing of it. It felt as if the world was closing in around her, blackness taking over, and her legs going weak. Jer's voice was the last thing she remembered before the lights went out all together. Charlie...


Her head buzzed with a sort of numbness that made it feel quite empty. For several long minutes, Rowan was happy to just lie still and let that numbness take over, letting it keep rule. Her brain didn't seem ready or willing to kick into gear and start working again, and she couldn't recall through the haze and mind fog, where she was or why.
Through sheer curiosity, she opened her eyes.
Light flooded her vision making her wince away from it. The slight movement caused pain to spread rapidly across the back of her head. She gasped audibly. What was that pain from? She didn't attempt to open her eyes again, but the vision of it still burnt on her eye lids.
"Rowan?" Was that Jer's voice? She couldn't make more than a faint whimpering sound. "You awake?"
She managed to mutter something low and undistinguishable that turned into another loud gasp of pain as fingers touched the sensitive part of her head, the source, she was sure, of all the pain she was feeling.
"Stay still," Jer's voice was little more than a low mumble, but she heard him. It sounded like he was hovering just above her ear as he said it. Rowan stayed as still as possible while his probing fingers moved in small circles over her head. She couldn't help but flinch away when he brushed over the most painful parts. "Sorry... You've got a bit of a bump but beyond that there's nothing serious that I can feel. No broken bone at least."
"Whahappened?" She slurred her words out. As she said it, memories of the day flooded back to her. Ash. Alexander. Car crash. Haydn and Charlie.
"I'm not sure. The police man was talking, you were facing the other way. How much do you remember?"
She gulped, trying to loosen the bulge she felt in her throat at the memory, at the sights she recalled. "Blood." The more she remembered the sight of all that blood, the more she remembered how the smell of it had clung to her nostrils sickening her. The memory was so clear that she could practically smell it again now. The memory had the bile rising up her throat again. Jer must have noticed, because before she knew it there was a make- shitf bucket of some kind being thrust in front of her. She didn't try to fight against it any longer. Jer being Jer, held her hair back away from her face, careful to avoid the lump that, if she remembered correctly, was caused by the impact of her head with the hard ground. She felt lightheaded at remembering what she'd seen again now.
A hand appeared in front of her with a handful of tissue. She grabbed one and wiped at her mouth, nodding one to Jer as a means of saying she was fine. Even still, he left the bucket on the floor in front of her.
It was only then that she looked around and noticed just how unfamiliar the place was. Beige leather sofas, lots of wood work, natural color walls... Where was she?
She looked up to her right, the light still stinging her eyes. Alexander stood over her. "This yours?" was all she could manage to ask.
"Do you refer to the bucket or the apparment?" There was a trace of amusement in his voice. She groaned. What a lovely first impression - drag someone into a crime scene, pass out and be carried into their house, then throw up in random household objects. If the pile of ripped papers and crip packets were anything to go by, the 'bucket' was only a make shift sick collector, and usually spent it's time as a waste paper basket. At least, she thought, it wasn't wicker.
She pushed herself up into a sitting position a little too quickly for her pounding head. She put her head in her hands and rocked ever so slightly. The pain just wasn't easing down. "Asprin? Paracetamol?"
She thought of nodding to save herself from words, but decided that the words would probably hurt less than the nodding would. "Yeah."
She could hear foot steps moving away, heading towards a kitchen or bathroom, or where ever it was that Alexander kept his tablets.
Jer sat down on the sofa beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in gently towards him. She happily rested her head against his shoulder. She smiled. She liked this side of Jer. He didn't show it quite so often, usually keeping his cool and collected and one step back attitude.
"This is where Ash was last night. I took a sniff to gather some scents beforehand. His scent is still quite strong. So is Alexanders, as would be expected. There was another feint scent that was unusual, Alexander doesn't recall it as being one that should be here, but he thinks he has some idea who the scent belongs to. I've told him to wait until you're feeling better and to tell us then."
Rowan made a sort of 'hrumpf' noise. "What about Charlie and Haydn?"
That was what was playing most on her mind right now. Her brother, at least, was alive and well. Both her and Jer had been in touch with him a few hours before. But the last they'd heard from Charlie and Haydn was the screech of tyres before the phone cut off.
The policeman we spoke to was a bit reluctant to give details at first becuase he had no solid proof of knowing either of them. He was a little more convinced after you said Charlie's name when you blacked out."
"Oh..." She had? She remembered thinking it, she didn't realize she'd said it out loud.
"He didn't give us much after that, but he did give us contact details for the hospital to follow up on, and a number for the station that'll be dealing with the case."
Rowan didn't say anything. She was too scared to ask. Had Jer called? What did they say? Were they okay? How hurt was Charlie? Part of her was honestly dreading hearing the answer.
For several minutes the silence stretched on. Alexander came back in, handing her a glass of water and the desired tablets. She swallowed them, struggling against the lump that was still in her throat. Alexander seemed to sense the mood for he didn't say a word just sat opposite, watching. Why was Jer so silent? Waiting for her to ask, or not wanting to give her awful news? Minutes continued to drag.
Jer sighed. "The hospital say Haydn has nothing more than what the paramedic said - a few burns and a concussion. He's been awake but they're keeping him sedated for a while, just to be on the safe side."
She swallowed. Hard. "Charlie?"
"...they're trying to stablise him. She wouldn't give much detail."
A single tear escaped and slipped down her cheek, leading the way for many more to follow. "Charlie..." The word was scarsley more than a whisper. Oh, Gods, Charlie. Pain flared in her chest. One question burned above the rest; why didn't she feel it?
She thought the bond between herself and Charlie had grown strong over the last however many months the connection had been blooming for, so why wasn't it working the time she needed it to the most. Was it her? Was it him? Was is interference from already keeping a tap on Ash? Too many questions swam around her head. She didn't even try to hold back, just burried her face in Jer's shoulder and let the tears flow, not caring who was there or how long she cried for. She didn't stop until her eyes felt bone dry and she was sure she couldn't cry another tear even if she wanted to. The pain inside her still hadn't eased. Why was today such a shitty day?

[NotAlice]

Nov 7, 2011 11:55:48 GMT -5 ASGetty ((Zovo)) said:

Nov 6, 2011 13:03:15 GMT -5 NotAlice said:

It's awful. Don't read it. I just need a more reliable back up source.

As long as Taed is here, you may want to consider storing things elsewhere.

I don't trust laptops not to break and I don't trust myself not to lose memory sticks. This is the closest alternative XD