Disclaimer: Everything but me belongs to Mrs. Hamilton, Ms. Rowling, Mr. Butcher, Mr. Walt Disney, and the people who wrote the script to Final Fantasy. No money's being made out of the story.
Warning: Bad language, violence, and sexual content.
Chapter 7
I woke up screaming from the nightmare in a cold sweat. My screams echoed through the lupanar like the howling wind on a cold winter's day. I startled the wolves with my screaming. They all had jumped up out of their slumber and growled at me. I was back in human form, but they hadn't changed back yet. I looked around at the wolves to see them staring back at me. I started to wheeze, so I crossed my legs and closed my eyes. I started to inhale and exhale very slowly trying to ease my breathing. Ever since the nightmares started, I was having a time with my asthma. I learned how to breathe slowly to keep from going into one of my attacks. I was still having problems with my heart, due to it nearly being ripped out of my chest, and it still hasn't completely healed. I freed all my senses, letting them loose into the air. I felt, saw, tasted, and heard things that a normal person could not. I heard among the wind someone approaching from the west. The wolves had heard them as well, because they were standing guard, growling, with their fur bristling up.
My grandfather stepped out of the shadows. He was a replica of my father. Dad looked like he was cloned from my grandfather or he could have been his twin. My breathing went back to normal and I got up off the ground to go meet my grandfather halfway. He reached out for me and I gave him a huge. Something was not right, and I sensed great trouble ahead. I looked at my grandfather and saw the distress in his face. I was wondering to myself why he was here, in person and not calling me on the phone as usual. I was happy to see my grandfather, but he was here on business, not just to see me. My curiosity won over so I asked, "Why are you here in St. Louis Grand Dad?"
He looked at me and smiled. He said, "Can't fool you, can I?"
I looked at him and smiled, "No. You can't."
"I'm here because the councils have a job for you," He said with a tone of seriousness, not liking what he's about to tell me.
"What kind of job do they have for me and does the council realize that I'm still trying to mend from the last job," I said perusing my grand father with a stern look.
"Yes. They are aware that you're still mending. However they thought it would be best if you finished what's been started," He said talking in riddles.
"Granddad I don't want to sound mean, but could you get to the point? "I said losing all patience.
"Fine. The councils has found Dorkson and company. They want you to take down the fugitives," He stated with a sour look.
My mouth fell to the ground. They found Dorkson and company. This was bad news. Not for me anyway, mostly for them, I thought to myself with a smile spreading across my face. I had waited for the moment to get my hands on those jerks. Now they've been found and pay backs were going to be a bitch.
The night of my tortured kidnapping, the councils apprehended all but three members of the Black Magic Society. Dorkson was one of the members that escaped. The other two were Madeline Rose, and James Tanner. Dorkson and company were the bearers of the magical artifacts. They had disappeared when my grandfather came looking for me. I stood there for a few moments trying to calculate the information. I looked back towards my grandfather and asked, "So where are they?"
He just looked at me with sad eyes and said, "They are here in St. Louis."
That got my attention and I nearly yelled, "They are here in St. Louis?"
"Yes," my grandfather said.
"How long have they been here?" I asked with hatred burning within my soul.
"Long enough to kill three people and frame the Ulfric of the local wolf pack for the murders," He said looking down at me from his 6 ft 3 height.
"So that's why Richard has been arrested," I said more to myself than to anyone else. Three of the wolves started growing with anger. It turned out to be Sylvie, Jamil, and Shang-Da. They were all alphas so they could understand things in wolf form. I know I could.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Dorkson and company had been here in St. Louis long enough to kill three people, and I hadn't picked up on it. Then again it hasn't been front page news either. I needed to talk to Anita about this, since I was back to work and tying up loose ends from my last assignment. I thought this through before I asked my grandfather a serious question, "Granddad have you gone to the local police with this information?"
"The councils want you to take care of the police. You're a Special Research Team agent for the International Government. They'll believe you over us, plus you outrank them," He said with a smile. I had to smile at that one. I did outrank them, so getting the murder files wouldn't be hard. One more question plagued my mind, so I turned to my grandfather and asked, "Why didn't you call me about this? Why did you show up to tell me in person?" I asked.
He started to naw at his lip, trying to think about my question. Finally he smiled and said,
"I wanted to see if my little cold hearted granddaughter has become soft while being away from us."
"Have I?"I asked.
"NO. You haven't, but you need to start standing up to your father and stepmother. Especially your stepmother. She's got to understand you are not one of her students and she needs to back off," He said while lecturing me.
"Even if it blows my cover?" I asked
"Even if it blows your cover," He said coming over to give me a hug. He held me in his arms for a minute or two, before he released me. "Besides your cover's already been blown," He said. I pulled away from him suddenly and gave him an evil look.
"What do you mean my cover's already been blown?" I asked glaring at him?
He started to laugh at me, before he could speak, "I ran into your father at Jean-Claude's tonight.
"What do you mean you ran into father?" I asked freaking out.
He started to laugh harder at my outburst. He was laughing so hard, I couldn't get him to give me a straight answer. Finally he calmed down a little to say, "I had to go through the proper procedures to entering another's land. So I had to go meet with Jean-Claude and you father happened to show up there tonight as well."
I was not happy with my grandfather at the moment. He told me not to tell dad about my extra curricular activities, and he blows my cover. That does it, no more playing Mrs. Nice Wolf. I yelled at my grandfather, "You didn't tell him did you? If you did after telling me not to I'm going to get really pissed!"
My grandfather fell to the groung laughing. I couldn't believe it. My grandfather told my father the truth. I was so mad I could scream and I did just that. I screamed so loud and hard it came out as a howl. My grandfather stopped laughing and looked at me. He was back to a business.
"I"m sorry dear, but I had no choice. Your father demanded I tell him why I had came to St. Louis, when I was supposed to be in negotiations with the other councils about a peace treaty," He said being sincere. I looked at my grandfather and knew he was telling me the truth. I let out a sigh, I knew it was going to be a long night. My grandfather came, over kissed me on the head and said," I've got to go. I've got a lot of work to do for tomorrow nights negotiations."
We said our farewells and he vanished into thin air. I was left standing there feeling happy that Dorkson and company were found and I'd been assigned to take them down. I also was feeling miserable because my father is going to want an explanation I couldn't give him. I stood there for a while thinking all this through. I felt someone touch my arm and jumped. I turned around to find everyone except Jason back in human form. Sylvie looked at me with a question in her eyes. I just shook my head as to say, "Not now. I need to think." She understood and let what she was going to ask drop. I started to walk back to the farmhouse, not looking back to see if anyone was following me. Jason came up beside me and I reached down to scratched behind his ears. It was time to let the cat out of the bag and get my stepmother off my back once and for all.