One Broken Legacy

Chapter 4: Town and Terror

Her eyes darted to me, then to the alley to the right, before returning to Peter. She was trying to help, but why? There was no logical reason for it unless I was walking into a bigger trap. But what bigger trap would there be? The Children of Man vastly outnumbered me. I did have my hairpin, but one small knife wouldn't do much against them.

I took a slow, calculating step to the right, and Lana's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Peter's eyes snapped to me, and I took off down the alley. I dodged garbage cans and old boxes soggy with rainwater. I didn't look back, but angry voices and hurried steps followed.

"Hey, idiot." A feminine voice hissed from the alley to my right. "Hurry the hell up or they'll see you."

A pair of eyes stared out from the adjacent alley, brown and fearful. It was a girl with choppy black hair that matched her skin tone and the clothes that bleed into the shadows like she was one of them.

"Who are you?" I found myself asking as I joined her in the alley, staying within earshot of the people talking. It wasn't what my first question should have been, but it was what slipped out.

"Smarter than you. Do you have a death wish?"

"I don't have a death wish," I said. The girl raised her eyebrows, bringing with it the moon's reflection. "Wolf."

She smiled, revealing longer than normal canine teeth. "Witch."

"Does your Alpha know you're spying on them?" I peeked around the corner. The alley, with the drunk city planning, showed the edge of the beat-up truck at the back. I must have done a full circle.

"No," she hissed. "He told everyone not to risk it. Why don't you avoid them if you know who they are?"

"I'm new in town. I haven't met them before, only heard of them."

"Obviously," she said. I chose to ignore the comment. "Who are you? I'm Anya, a wolf from Alpha Daniel's pack."

"I figured. Where is your land located?"

Anya gave me a long look, the corners of her lips pulling up. "You're awful straightforward. I'll tell you if you give me your name and why you're here. We don't get a lot of Coth travelers."

I weighed my options. Anya was an ally I'd been hoping for, but I wasn't sure I wanted to reveal my hand just yet. I would need her help, but she didn't strike me as a very sensible teen. After all, she was stalking a group that seemed willing to induce considerable harm and not doing a very good job at it.

"I'm known here as Alexandra, but you can call me Lexi. One of my family friends has a kid in the area that I'm helping out. I think Alpha Daniel could help me."

Anya cocked an eyebrow. "What family friend?"

"A boy, Nick, up at the Twin Trees High School, wolf as well. He hasn't turned yet."

"That hellhole?" Anya pulled away, an exaggerated shudder racking her boy. "How unlucky are you? Who is the kid, one of the crazy preps?"

"He hates it more than me. That's why I want to get help, to make my job easier and faster."

"I can offer my help." Anya leaned back and I heard her hip crack. "I've been here too long, and they don't do anything but harass people. It would be a good change of pace."

"You're serious?" My jaw dropped a little. I didn't think it would be that easy. "You'll show me how to get to the packhouse?"

"Not as fun," Anya laughed. "No, I'll help you myself. What do you need?"

I rolled my neck, stifling the uneasy grin. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Wolves, so spontaneous. I missed the older, mature ones.

"Can you force his shift?"

"He hasn't shifted?" Anya's voice rose and she bit her lip. The grumbling in the alley had quieted. It seemed the group had given up the chase.

I was beginning to regret my honesty with the girl. She clearly was not skilled in deception.

"No. It's a..." I hesitated, searching for a word that would not reveal too much, "...special case."

"No pack?" Her voice held a pain that I couldn't understand. I knew the theory of wolf's packs. They didn't want any of their kind to be an outsider. She was part of something that meant the world to her, and the thought of another wolf not having that hurt her. It was a charming, foolish notion.

I nodded and her eyes fell to the dingy, trash street below us. "I'll help. But not tonight, I have things to do."

"Why not tonight?" I bit my cheek to keep my voice even. "We could talk here, at least plan our move."

"Because I said not tonight. That's final." Anya, for the first time, showed a backbone. I couldn't figure this girl out. She was warm one minute, icy the next.

"Then where should we meet?"

"The Club, it's in the storm drains that's unlocked under the bridge. Every Coth in the area knows about it, and we can talk freely."

She offered me her hand and I took it. Her firm shakes matched mine. "I'll be there just after sunset tomorrow."

"It's a date." Anya winked. "Do you want to help me stake out the dumb humans?" She gestured around the corner, her eyes lighting up. She thought this was fun.

"No. You won't learn anything, just draw suspicion to yourself. Stay away from them if you want to protect your family. You'll only be making a mess by trying to play spy."

"Well, you're rude." Anya crossed her arms like a pouting child. "Like you have any idea."

"More than you, and I'm just being honest. I don't want to see you hurt."

"Your monotoned voice doesn't make that clear. I'll think about what you said, though."

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow."

I heard Anya's mumbled goodbye as I crept down the narrow street. Our conversation told me enough to guess she would be easy to use. A light-hearted and compassionate soul, but she was also naïve and without much understanding of the real world. Unless she was an esteemed liar.

The worst part of her plan, I had to go to school again tomorrow. 

Did anyone else get Back to the Future vibes from the first part? Well, that's kind of what I envisioned, but it didn't really come across that way. 

Also, of course, we need an annoying group of individuals who don't know anything! I looked forward to how they progress.