As Lisa and I leave the apartment and walk to the SUV I notice way more bird poop on it than could possibly be considered normal. Honestly, I never should have let her feed the birds. Now everything around us will be white, I already know it. Hell, there's even a pigeon staring at me as I get into the driver's seat. It's creepy.
"The price we pay," Lisa mutters as she scrutinizes a rather large white stain on the windshield.
I stick the key in the ignition and start the car. "This is your fault, you know. You fed the birds."
She hums and clicks her seatbelt on. "And I will continue to do so. It's worth it."
I'm not even going to argue. Lisa's new chore will have to be to get the car washed, then. I'll take over cleaning the bathroom.
"So what exactly are we doing?" Lisa asks as we drive off. "I didn't read the file."
I squirt the windshield with water and hope the wipers can get rid of the bird poop. "Uh, one of theirs went rogue. Rabies or something."
Lisa hisses in sympathy. "That's not good."
"Why?"
"They will die from the infection. Usually not before killing, or infecting, many others. It's best to find them and give them a quick death. It's a good thing they called. If they go try to catch their member on their own, they might catch the illness and the process starts again."
I give Lisa a side long glance. "How do you know all that?"
"I've dealt with something similar. If something is happening to your people, it's best to ask for help from a different species, one that won't be effected."
"And you won't be?"
"Probably not. I've never been infected with rabies. But I hear doctors now have a cure, correct?"
"There's a vaccine, yes," I drawl. "But I'd really rather not have to take you back to medical so soon."
"Don't worry. I haven't gotten sick by any diseases you know of. I'm essentially immune to human diseases. There is a sea virus, though..."
"Ah, don't tell me," I say quickly. "I don't want to hear about it." I don't think it would be fun at all. Everything in Lisa's past is tragic. I don't want to know. Even if I am curious about what a sea virus is exactly.
Lisa shuts up and focuses her attention on her window. I keep my eyes on the road, and the rest of the drive goes on in silence. I remember seeing The Black Hound before on the way to the Facility so I know exactly where to go. The place is almost dark when we arrive and I park out front, studying the grungy building.
"This looks nice," Lisa says, and I'm not sure if she's being sarcastic.
I step out onto the sidewalk then lock the car when Lisa is beside me. We both stare. Lisa is the one that takes the initiative, though, and approaches the front door. She tries to open it but it's locked, so she knocks instead.
"You Jennie?" A gruff voice asks, a slight accent to it.
Lisa steps back and waits for me to respond. "I, uh, I am," I say. All of this is just weird. It's late, it's dark, and we're standing out on a not so reputable street to meet who knows what kind of people.
The door to the bar opens and a woman with an evil eye and barely any clothes waves us in. Lisa steps in first, thankfully, and I hurry in behind her, shamefully using her like a shield. I don't want her to get hurt but she could take any oncoming threat better than I ever could. I peek around her, though, and get a good look at the place. It's like any other dive bar- dingy, kind of depressing- but there are more people in it than there should be if the joint is closed. There's at least a dozen men and women standing around.
"Hi!" That cheerful voice I remember from phone says. He walks up to Lisa and holds out his hand. He looks like an innocent college kid.
Lisa shakes his hand and says, "You lead?"
The kid blushes. "Gosh, how did you know? No one ever guesses that right. Yes, I lead. My name's Bambam." He motions behind us to the woman that opened the door for us. "This is Sorn, my second. And everyone else is my family. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Lisa, and this is Jennie. I'm her second, of sorts."
Bambam's eyebrows shoot up to his perfectly square hairline and he holds out his hand to me. "Really? Nice to meet you, too, Jennie. Glad you could make it."
I shake his hand. His palm is hot. "Nice to meet you, too."
When I let him go he slaps his hands together and says, "Well, let's get down to business. I'm sure you two have better things to do on a lovely night like this. The faster we get this over with, the faster we can all go home."
"What're you?" Sorn asks suddenly, giving Lisa the stink eye. She sniffs at Lisa and grunts.
Bambam tuts. "Sorn, that's not nice. You know GDragon works with... others."
Sorn snorts. "She don't smell like no other. She don't smell like nothing."
Lisa remains calm through all this. But then Bambam says, "It's true. What are you? If I may ask. I'm not saying you smell wrong but..." and she gets defensive.
She puffs out her chest. "I'm older than your mama, boy, your grandmama. My roots are in yours but my family is different. If you've never met one of my own, be thankful. I'm a Pet."
"A Lover," I chime in, and that makes someone near the back of the room hoot in disbelief.
An old man with a beard to his chest steps forward and waggles a finger. "You shitting me, human?"
Lisa growls but I'm not offended. He's not trying to be crass. He's just curious. "I'm not," I tell him. "She's a Lover."
"You're her handler?" he asks suspiciously, one of his eyes squinting.
Honestly, if people asking me if I 'own' Lisa is going to become a common thing, I'm not going to be happy. "I put the collar around her neck, yes."
The old man spits on the floor. No one even blinks at the act. "Well, shit," he hollers, getting closer. "I'm Tony." He puts a gnarly arm around Lisa's shoulders and jostles her like a proud dad might. "See this one here? I saw one like her destroy a whole city for her handler. Tore everyone and everything to shreds. Pissed my pants like a pup. Bring her a beer!"
The whole room hoots and pounds tables, suddenly joyous. Someone jumps over the bar to start making drinks. The old man grabs me around the shoulders, too, and shakes me.
"You're gonna need a beer, too, eh?" he chuckles. "Look a bit scared. Don't worry, your Lover here will help us all tonight." He gives me a wink then pats me back, pushing me towards the bar.
Lisa grabs my hand to bring me close as the rest of the people in the room come close to talk to us. Beers are passed around as Lisa is peppered with questions, but I notice Bambam and Tony talking together nearby. They're actually loud enough for me to hear over everyone. Bambam is voicing his concerns that we all should be out looking for their brother, but Tony insists that we should all be a little buzzed for the hunt. Liquid courage will help us, he says. It'll make it easier to have to kill someone close to them. With a sigh, Bambam agrees, and him and Tony join the rest of the group.
I smile and lean into Lisa, my initial nervousness about being here gone. These folks around us are so...
familial. Kind. Lisa pulls me to her chest with an arm as she talks about the last Weres she encountered, and the room booms with laughter. Everyone's already feeling the alcohol.
"You ever mate with one of us?" A man nearby asks boldly, raising his glass. "You'd carry a damn fine pup. A little monster."
Everyone else agrees and pounds the bar top. Lisa chuckles and her hand on me firms. "You couldn't keep up with me."
Roared laughter fills my ears and someone tips off their chair. Lisa rumbles with chuckles, the vibrations hitting me and making me laugh, too.
"And the human can?" Someone asks, making me remember that I'm not supposed to let anyone know Lisa and I are together. I push away from her and she allows me to, only frowning slightly.
"Come on, now," Bambam cajoles. "We're all civilized wolves here. That's none of our business."
I'm thankful for the intervention, but a part of me is ashamed that I wanted to distance myself from Lisa. We were having fun, being normal, and I ruined it. If I weren't so damned afraid Lisa and I could feel like that all the time.
"And anyway," Bambam continues, "we need to start the hunt. Our brother needs no more time in such pain."
The room hushes and I can sense everyone sobering up. People put down their beers, coughing and straightening out. As Bambam makes a speech about being careful and sparing their brother a painful death if they can, Lisa stands directly beside me, listening, too. She's almost looming over me protectively with the blatant need to touch me in safety. Again shame washes over me for denying her that luxury in public.
"He still in the same area?" Bambam asks, bringing me back to reality.
A guy to my left grunts. "We managed to keep him on the lot. Minnie's there watching him. She hasn't given me a call, so he should be there still."
Bambam nods resolutely. "Who's coming along?"
Everyone roars and I jump, squeaking. "All of them are coming?" I whisper.
Lisa nods and leads me out with the rest of the crew. "They need the numbers. Not just for the infected but for anyone else that might catch the disease."
"She's right," Sorn says, stepping beside me. "We hope we only have to take down one today, but we've prepared to take down more if necessary."
I accept that, humming. The pack hops into three different cars around the back of the bar and Lisa and I are placed into the one with Bambam and Sorn. It's a bit squished but I don't mind being shoved up against Lisa. She doesn't try to put her arm around me, though, like I thought she would.
"Why hasn't anyone come to help you sooner?" I ask to distract myself from Lisa's distance.
"What we're dealing with isn't that big of a deal compared to other things happening in the world,"
Sorn says. "Really, this is more of a family dispute."
Bambam turns in his seat to look at me. "The cops don't come to help with mentally ill people unless they go on a killing spree, you know? Sad, but true."
"Your... brother hasn't killed anyone?" I ask.
Bambam grimaces. "Yes, but apparently not enough to warrant immediate action. You didn't even come for a while."
"I'm sorry. We were just hired."
"Starting at the bottom," Sorn snorts.
Bambam shoots her a look but returns to sit straight in his seat. The road under the wheels turns gravely and I look out the window to find us in the warehouse district. The part that's under construction to be exact. The area where a few buildings are to be demolished to be exactly exact. How could a werewolf be kept prisoner here? Surely someone would notice.
The car skids to a stop and Lisa gets out of the car before the engine is off. She holds out a hand for me to take but her eyes are on a stripped building. She sniffs audibly and her skin bristles. I can feel her tension as I take her offered hand and step out into the cool air.
The guy who gave us the info on this place comes running, holding a cell phone in his hand. "Minnie says he's on the third floor."
Bambam nods and takes off his sweater. "Everyone goes up together. Keep an eye on one another."
The guy nods and runs off to inform everyone else. Lisa turns to me and gives me a look. "I would like it if you'd stay here."
To be honest, I'm not too keen on meeting a rabid werewolf, anyway. "I... I will."
Lisa sighs in relief and walks away with Bambam's pack, but not before Bambam asks Sorn to stay with me. Sorn fights but concedes when Bambam tells her that she needs to be around to lead if something happens to him. Then, to my utter surprise, Bambam gives Sorn a big kiss on the lips, tongue and all. Never did I guess that a tough cookie like Sorn would be interested in a preppy boy like Bambam. It just goes to show that opposites do attract sometimes.
"You can stop judging me now," Sorn grunts when everyone is gone. Embarrassed, I lean on the car and tuck my hair behind my ears. "I wasn't judging." "But you were surprised."
"Yeah, I admit that."
Sorn crosses her arms over her chest and spreads her feet. "You love who you love. You're the one mating with a Lover."
"We're not... mating."
"You're screwing each other's brains out, aren't you?"
My cheeks grow hot and I'm glad Sorn isn't looking my way. God, she makes it sound so crass. Lisa and I aren't 'screwing each other's brains out.' It was only that one night we were together that way, her hospitalization preventing more nights like that to happen. Anyway, she was gentle with me. Sweet and generous. Not that I would mind something rougher...
"We're together, yes," I eventually say.
"I saw you push her at the bar. Do you not actually like her or somethin'?"
There it is, that damn shame. "I do like her, a lot, actually. But my job is to be her caretaker. Our relationship is supposed to be a professional one."
Sorn looks up, as do I, when a cacophony of wolves' snaps and growls echo. I'm guessing Lisa is the only person with human skin right now. "You failed at that," Sorn comments. "You made her love you and now you won't be close to her? Jerk."
"I didn't make her do anything. And as for love, well-"
"You better choose, girl. If you want her, have her, but if you don't... Well, she's sure to get tired of being pushed away. Eventually she won't come back."
Lisa wouldn't do that. I mean... she wouldn't. She knows how much I like her and want her. She knows we have to maintain a professional façade to be able to stay together in private. Maybe she'll get fed up with it, but what am I supposed to do?
"She's got wolf qualities," Sorn gruffs. "If you won't treat her right I'm sure someone in my pack will."
"Now that's just disrespectful."
Sorn shrugs. "We take care of our own. Humans always leave for one reason or another. Y'all expect us to be like you, but we're not. We won't ever be. Then you up and leave us when you can't change what you already knew you couldn't."
I haven't put unrealistic standards on Lisa. Have I? I know she's different, drastically different, but I haven't made her change too much. All I've really done is made her more independent. That's not a bad thing. She seems happy, anyway. I mean... she hasn't told me otherwise.
The sound of gnashing teeth brings my attention up and I see an oversized wolf leg scramble for purchase through a hole in the wall. Commotion echoes through the night and Sorn breathes in deep, her body tensing. A yip makes me jump, the thud following making me nervous, but it's Lisa's voice that truly makes me anxious.
"Get back," she yells. "Don't touch him."
Then, with a loud crash, a ball of fur rolls through the wall and out into open air. Sorn gasps as the ball plummets to the ground. The ground shakes as it lands but that's not what scares me. It's the fact that I can see Lisa's arms struggling under the hairy mass.
I run forward but Sorn holds me back as her pack falls from the sky to land around Lisa and her attacker. Lisa kicks and sends the furball off her, but it's on its feet in a second. She stands to face off with it, wiping slobber from her face, and I gulp. The rabies infested wolf is dingy and dirty, foam dripping from its maw, and even from where I am I can see its eyes are blood red.
Bambam and his pack move about to put their infected brother and Lisa in a secure circle, their growls and snapping jaws dangerous. I grab onto Sorn's hands around me, not for comfort, but to get her to leave me alone. I can't just leave Lisa like that. It looks like a damned supernatural fight club over there.
"Don't," Sorn snarls. "You humans always think you help, but you don't. You're a distraction. Let her fight."
I stop squirming, taking that in, because it's true. The last time there was a battle I stupidly called for Lisa and she was knocked off her feet and almost strangled to death with magic. I would never forgive myself if I caused something like that to happen again.
Lisa leaps forward and spins in the air, her foot catching the rabid wolf's ear. It snarls, white falling from its mouth, and it snatches up Lisa's leg as she lands off balance. It tugs on her to send her crashing to the floor. She falls onto her back and, almost making me cheer, one of Bambam's pack throws themselves onto the rabid wolf before it can slash at Lisa.
"Stupid," Sorn spits.
But the brave wolf runs off before it can be put in more danger. The distraction is enough, though, because Lisa is up and ready for more. Unfortunately the rabid brother is focused on the wolf that attacked it. Its thick legs move to chase after the brave pack member and I fear that it will catch its prey, infecting another. But Lisa speeds to save the brave wolf and stands in front of the rabid one, holding her arm in front of her to protect herself. The rabid wolf's jaw closes around Lisa's arm and she screams something in a language I've never heard.
"Don't," Sorn warns before I can call out for Lisa. I shut my mouth and bite my lip, hoping for the best.
Lisa doesn't try to yank her arm out of the wolf's mouth, but she swings herself to its back and slaps her free hand over its nose. Her fingers prod into its nostrils and it lets her arm go, then it tries to buck her off. Lisa hugs the hulking thing even with her bleeding arm and doesn't budge. Bambam's pack yips and bounces around the pair as they fling from here to there, keeping them in a general area.
"Quick!" Sorn yells. Then I realize that the rabid wolf is getting weaker, the life slowly being squeezed out of it. Sorn wants a quick death.
Lisa yells sharply, just one note, then the form in her arms goes limp and thuds to the ground. She jumps off the furry mass to stare down at it, her lips parted.
"Stay here," Sorn tells me, pushing me back. Her eyes are wet. "Please. Respect the dead." Then she runs to her dead brother, her pack, who have all surrounded the still body. Lisa stays there, too, not even looking in my direction. Sorn stops at Lisa's side and says something I can't hear. Lisa nods, then takes a knee, her wounded arm resting on it. Bambam's pack gets nearer to Lisa and some of them lick her wound, and she allows it.
I watch the strange events with wide eyes, feet frozen to the spot. It's almost like I'm intruding on an intimate gathering. I'm tempted to turn away.
The pack tips their heads back, as do Lisa and Sorn, and soft howls of grief fill the air. The expressions are not loud enough to attract attention but they cut through me like a knife. I've never heard a sound so sorrowful. I finally turn away.
The howls die down to pathetic whimpers after a minute but I remain facing nothing. It's not until I hear numerous human footsteps approaching do I look over my shoulder. Lisa is in the lead, a naked man in her arms, with Bambam's pack right behind her like a funeral procession.
They all pile into their cars and Lisa places the dead man in one of the trunks. She sighs and closes it, letting her hand linger. Eventually she returns to me.
"I should be the one to bury him," she says softly.
But all I'm focused on is her mangled arm. "You need medical. You need rabies shots."
"You should get that looked at," Bambam says, coming up behind me, stung his arms in his sweater. He pulls it over his head then says, "We can take care of this. We greatly appreciate what you've done for us."
Lisa inhales. "Are you sure?"
Bambam nods then pats Lisa's good shoulder, squeezing it. "I'm sure. You've done us a great service and we won't ever forget it. If you ever need anything, you know where to find us. Come. I'll have someone drive you back to the bar."
Lisa nods and I follow her as Bambam leads her to one of the cars without a dead body in the trunk. He gives us a sincere goodbye and wishes us the best, then we're off. The whole ride my eyes are on Lisa's arm. It's glistening with spit and blood, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"Can you take the serum for me?" I ask her.
She stares out the window, but does look at me when she nods in agreement. I'm relieved. With the serum she won't have to go through the numerous rabies shots.
"Can I sleep in my own bed tonight?" She asks, shocking me. The driver raises his eyebrows through the rear view mirror but I ignore his interested gaze.
"Uh, yeah," I manage. Have I done something wrong? Was Sorn right when she said I was pushing Lisa away?
But then she asks, "Will you sleep with me?" And just like that my fears wash away.