"It's pretty cool, right?" Jazmine said.
"Also, extremely dangerous," I said. "Do you know how to control it?"
She shrugged. "So far, I’m fine."
"Yeah, but…" I didn't get to finish the sentence before Jayden spotted Amy's truck driving up to the entrance of the park and her jumping out.
"About time," Jazmine said and looked at her watch. "She's late. What has she been up to?"
"Why are you in such a rush?" I asked. "Going to see Adrian?"
"He’s coming over later if you must know," she said.
I sighed just as Amy came running toward us, waving her arms.
"Something’s wrong," I said when I saw the alarm in Amy's eyes.
"Melanie is gone," she said when she got close enough to us. "Melanie is gone!"
"What do you mean she’s gone?" I asked.
"She's gone. She left. See," Amy said and showed us a note. "It says she didn't want to be any more trouble for us, so she left and will take care of herself from now on."
"Oh, no," I said.
"Why are you upset?" Jazmine said. "This way, we don't have to find a new place for her."
"Don't you get it?" I asked. "Out here, she's in great danger. My mother is looking for her. Just earlier today, she came into my room and started asking questions about her. By the way, you might want to be very careful about what you tell your little boyfriend."
"What do you mean?" Jazmine said defensively.
"I think he might be spying for my mother."
"And just what are you basing that upon?" Jazmine asked, sounding like she was offended.
"First of all, he is one of them. And I don't think you can trust any of those vampires. Especially not my brother. Second, I felt like my mom knew that I had something to do with Melanie's disappearance. It was like she knew somehow."
"Did she tell you that she knew?"
"Yes and no."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"First, she told me she knew; then she said she was just messing with me, testing my loyalty to her. But I had a feeling…"
"I can't use your feelings for anything," Jazmine said. "I know that you're against me dating your brother, not that I understand why, but you are, and I accept that but don't try and destroy what we have just because you're jealous or something."
I nodded. "Fair enough. Just promise me you'll be careful, especially with what you tell him."
"I can take care of myself," Jazmine said.
"Could we return to the real issue here?" Amy complained. "The issue of Melanie running away?"
Jazmine shrugged. "What do you want us to do? If she wants to go out there and take care of herself, there really isn't much we can do, is there?"
Jayden nodded. "Jazmine has a point."
Amy sighed. I could tell she was worried. Jayden put a hand on her shoulder. "Melanie can take care of herself. She's master at Taekwondo and she's a werewolf. I think it’s time for us to let her go. "
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Julie Sharpe was tired, yet she couldn't sleep. She was crying, thinking about Rob. Not that she missed him since before they got divorced he was never home much. But she cried because of the betrayal she had suffered. To think that on all those nights when she had believed he was at the office instead of at their home, that they were taking advantage of his goodwill, and that he was working hard to take care of her, to think that all that time, he had been lying to her. He hadn't been at the office, no; instead, he had been with her. Laura. Not only was she a colleague of Julie's, but she was also her best friend.
Her best friend!
To think that it had taken Julie two years to figure out what they were up to, what they were doing behind her and Laura's husband, Tommy's backs. And she had absolutely no idea. She hadn't noticed that he smelled different. She hadn't found it strange that he no longer wanted to sleep with her since that had already stopped once she realized she couldn't have any children and she had started to loathe her body for its incapability. And she figured he too had lost interest because of all the extra weight she was gaining. But she should have seen it, shouldn't she?
Every day, Julie saw Laura at the school. They even ate together in the teachers’ lunchroom almost every day. And she never suspected a thing.
It wasn't until the day after Valentine's Day when Laura came to work wearing a diamond bracelet, the same one Julie had wished for, but she had gotten earrings instead, which she loved, but it was the bracelet she really wanted.
"I love that bracelet," Julie had said.
"Isn't it gorgeous?" Laura said. "Tommy gave it to me. For Valentine's Day."
That was when Julie knew something was wrong. Tommy never gave Laura presents and he couldn't afford a bracelet like that one. And what was even stranger was that it perfectly matched Julie's earrings. So much she was certain it was a set, the set she had seen in the store where she had shown them to Rob.
At first, she had pushed the thought away, thinking it had to be some coincidence or maybe even that Rob helped Tommy buy the jewelry and decided he liked the earrings best. Yet something had started to nag at Julie and one day when he was late again, she had logged into his Facebook account and found out she was right. Never in her life had she wished she was wrong like in that moment. Julie's entire world crashed and hadn't been the same since. The many messages had been graphic and a lot about sex, but what had hurt her the most, the most painful ones, were those with declarations of love and yearning. Julie had read as many as she could without breaking down. She had then walked away from the computer, sat down on her couch, and cried. Everything she had believed in, everything in her life was a lie.
Julie had debated a lot within herself over the next several hours. She imagined herself being like a heroine in a movie, throwing him out. She even thought about burning all his stuff, his clothes and his beloved golf clubs (Do they even burn? She wasn't sure.) She also thought about pretending like nothing had happened and forgiving him until Rob came home and she couldn't hold it back anymore.
He hadn't even had the decency to try and deny it. It was like he was relieved that she had found out.
And then he left.
Since then, she hadn't been able to sleep much, and tonight was worse than any other night. She didn't like being alone in this big house, and she jumped at every creaking sound it made. Tonight, she thought she had heard noises coming from the garage but had decided not to let herself scare so easily. It was probably just the wind pulling at the garage door or maybe a mouse.
But now, as she lay in her bed, the clock next to her blinking one a.m., she heard noises coming from in there that had nothing to do with wind or mice, she was certain of that.
This was something much, much bigger.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Julie pulled the covers over her head to try and block out the noises coming from the garage. But somehow, she could still hear them. It was like they were growing louder and louder. Julie didn't want to be scared anymore; she was sick of being so weak.
It might be a rat, she thought. Or a raccoon.
Julie remembered once discovering a raccoon in her garage when growing up. She had walked into the garage and there it was, staring at her, it's little claws held up like it was ready to defend itself. Back then, she remembered wondering why something so cute could be considered a pest. She had called for her dad, and he had merely opened the garage door and let the poor guy run out.
"Must have somehow gotten trapped in here by accident," he explained.
Julie loved her dad. He was the rock in her life when growing up. Especially when her mother had those breakdowns that made her sit in a corner of the living room, looking at her fingers, giggling or mumbling to herself. Julie's dad had always managed to keep the house working and things running as normal as possible while those breakdowns happened. For that, she loved him dearly. But he wasn't here anymore. He died in a car accident three years ago, and since then nothing had bee
n the same in her life. Sometimes she wondered if that was why she couldn't have children…if the grief over having lost her beloved daddy could have somehow affected her body so much that it simply refused to work properly.
She would never find out.
"If it's a raccoon, you should help it get out," she said out loud in the darkness.
That's what dad would have done.
Julie chuckled at the memory of her dad. He had such a big heart that he never wanted to hurt any animals and once they had picked up a porcupine lying in the driveway after Julie had hit it with her bike. Julie's dad had cried. Using his finger, he had gently petted the dead animal, tears streaming across his cheeks. He had the biggest of hearts; it was only sad that he never got to experience real love himself. Julie had never felt like her mother appreciated her dad enough, or even loved him. She took him for granted since she knew he would never go anywhere. And she was right. But her dad had explained to her that her mother needed him around and so did she. You never give up on someone who needs you.
"You should help the poor raccoon," she told herself.
Julie got out of bed, found a broom in the closet, and walked into the garage. It was pitch dark in there, but she could see a set of eyes at the other end of it, looking back at her.
Do raccoons have red eyes?
"Hello?" she said, holding the broom in the air. Then she shook her head, thinking she was being silly.
It's not like the raccoon is going to answer you.
The glaring red eyes stared back at her as she approached the wall with the light switch and reached out for it, tapping the wall next to it till she found it with her fingers and switched it on.
As she stared into the wolf's eyes and knew her destiny, all Julie could think about was that darn porcupine and its dead brown eyes staring back at her like it was looking at her from beyond the grave. She always thought she would someday have to pay for hitting it with her bike.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I woke up to the sound of sirens. I opened my eyes with a gasp and went to the window. What looked like ten police cars and a huge fire truck were parked further down the street. A crowd had gathered in front of Mrs. Sharpe's, my old art teacher's house and more people were coming too, some still in their PJs.
I spotted Jayden's family standing next to Jazmine's and hurried to get dressed, then ran downstairs, where my mother looked like she had seen a ghost. Being as she was a vampire, I was used to her being pale, but this was ridiculous. Her eyes were frantically staring into the street.
"What's going on? Mom?"
The TV was on, and I realized the images displayed were from our street. A helicopter was circling outside. My heart dropped, and I felt scared.
"What's going on?"
"It's happened again."
The voice was my brother's. He came up behind me.
"What happened again?"
He didn't answer but went outside and crossed the street. I saw him join Jazmine, then decided to follow him.
I rushed outside toward the others and could hear my mother right behind me, clicking on her high heels. She had grabbed her fur coat and, with her sunglasses and the hat, she looked like someone going to a party. Or maybe a Hollywood star. My eyes locked with Jayden's. He too seemed flustered and scared.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
He cleared his throat. "It was…the wolf…again."
I gaped. "The wolf?"
He nodded. "They found her this morning. Mrs. Sharpe. Or her ex-husband did. He stopped by to pick up a box of things on his way to work. She was in the garage, or what they say was left of her."
"A wolf, huh?" my mother said and gave Jayden's mother a look over her sunglasses. "Inside her house? Inside?"
Claire sighed. "Her garage."
"Still. I thought wolves stayed far away from residential areas, wasn't that what you said the last time?"
"I…I don't under…"
Claire stopped talking. I could tell Jayden was terrified. I kept staring at his family as they stood there. Did they know this wolf? Was it one of them?
"I must say, it is getting awfully close to home, don't you think, Claire?" my mother said. "A little too close for my taste."
"Camille, now is not the time for…" Jazmine's mother, Briana, began. But she stopped when she spotted Mr. Aran approaching them. I could literally feel my mother's hands start to shake. As usual, he had one of his tarantulas crawling on his neck.
"Good morning, neighbors…or maybe we should just leave it at morning today, huh?" he said. "Awful tragedy, huh?"
His tarantula started to act up and make hissing noises and he grabbed it with his hands. My mom stepped back, away from the animal. Mr. Aran looked at her, observing.
"Finn doesn’t like it either, I guess. Never have seen him act quite this way before. This forceful of a reaction. It is quite strange. Quite strange indeed. Tsk, tsk. Wolves walking into people's houses, huh? Sure is odd behavior for a wild animal. Why, you'd almost think it went in there with the intention to kill a human, wouldn't you? Almost like it planned it. Sure is strange, I will say. Strange indeed."
They all ignored the weird bald man and stared at the scene where the police officers tried to get the many spectators to move back so the forensics team could get to work. Amy came walking up to us. She had been in the crowd by the house and had a terrified look on her face as her eyes met mine.
"They say Mrs. Sharpe was ripped open. By claws," she said and looked down at her phone. She showed me an article from the local TV station, News13.
"They say they'll reopen the hunt for the wolves. Everyone with a firearm will be roaming the neighborhood tonight. Every freakin’ idiot with a gun."
I knew her worry was that it might have been Melanie, unable to control herself. That was what I feared too. If it was her, there was no more we could do to protect her.
She was on her own.
Chapter Forty
Jazmine felt dizzy. She had felt it all morning, ever since she had put her feet on the carpet of her bedroom floor. She was so tired. As she stood with the rest of the neighborhood outside looking at Mrs. Sharpe's house and all the police activity, she could hardly stand still because she felt the ground spinning around her. While that odd guy from number three spoke, she had to close her eyes to keep from fainting. Now she grabbed her mother's hand in hers and leaned on her shoulder. Her mother caressed her cheek.
"You okay, honey?" she asked.
Jazmine wanted to nod but never got that far. She lifted her head from her mother's shoulder, then opened her eyes. The houses around her spun very fast and so did the ground as it came closer and closer to her face. In the distance, she could hear her mother yelling her name.
"Jazmine!"
Jazmine could see feet, shoes in all different colors and sizes approaching her eyes, and she felt hands on her body as the ground was pulled away from her face. She saw her mother's face look into hers, her eyes really close to hers, and what sounded like very far away, she could hear her call out her name, but it sounded so muffled it was odd. Above her head, a flock of birds had circled all morning. Now, they were screaming loudly and, for some reason, it was all that Jazmine heard.
Next thing she knew, strange unknown faces were looking into hers, wearing orange and white suits, but they too seemed to be spinning. She felt something around her arm and understood that they were taking her blood pressure, when the spinning slowly stopped, and the sounds returned. Her mother now only had one face and one set of very worried eyes.
Jazmine sat up. Her friends were standing around her, along with so many staring faces it felt embarrassing.
"Are you okay, honey? Jazmine?" her mother asked.
Jazmine took in a deep breath. "I think so. I just suddenly…felt so dizzy."
"Her blood pressure is a little low, but she seems fine otherwise," a paramedic, the one who had shone a flashlight into her eyes, said. "She might just have forgotten to breathe properly,
or maybe she stood up too long. It's normal for growing kids."
"Thank you," Jazmine's mother said to the paramedic as he left. Her mother helped her get to her feet and put her arm around her shoulder, then helped her walk back toward the house.
Inside, they put her down on the couch in the living room. Both her parents sat in front of her, hands folded in their laps, terrified looks in their eyes.
"Are you okay?" her mother asked again.
Jazmine nodded, holding her head. It had started to hurt. "I think so. I’ve just been a little dizzy all morning."
"Maybe we should take her to see Dr. George?" her dad asked.
Her mother kept looking at her, then at her nails and her eyes.
"I’m not sure it's necessary. You heard the paramedic. She probably just needs to rest for a little while. Here. Lie down, baby. I'll get you some water."
Chapter Forty-One
What a morning. It was quite eventful for our little neighborhood. First, the killing of Mrs. Sharpe—which still had me terrified, by the way—and then Jazzy fainted in the middle of the street. As my mom dragged me back toward our house and I had managed to mouth a goodbye to Jayden, I felt worried about her.
It was Saturday, so I didn't have to do any schoolwork and could stay in my room for most of the day. I watched a few of my favorite shows on Netflix but got bored with them fast and ended up watching the news instead. It was all about what had happened on our small street and how the wolves had been terrorizing our neighborhood and the town. They went through the killing of Natalie Jamieson and then the attack on the group of teenagers having a bonfire that ended up with Blake Fisher being killed. And then they showed pictures of Melanie, from back when she was attacked. She was lying in her hospital bed, and I heard her once again tell them how she had kicked the wolf. It made me chuckle. It was so like Melanie to speak like that and to kick that wolf's butt. Over the time we had kept her hidden, I had grown to like her.