4.
2703 Words
Georgia and Anneas were waiting for us at the end of the alley.
“I can’t believe it!” Etienne exclaimed, brutally cracking his fingers. “This son of a jackal has succeeded.”
I wasn’t absorbing this turn of events well either.
“It makes you wonder if he wasn’t the one who orchestrated all this!” he added, referring to the murder.
“John wouldn’t have gone that far,” Anneas said.
“Well, I hope so for his sake,” Georgia growled, “otherwise I’ll be happy to tear his eyes out!”
Knowing Georgia, I didn’t doubt for a second that she would do so without qualms.
“How are you?” she asked when she saw how despondent I was.
“I don’t know,” I replied in a small voice. “I’m thinking of Elgin. How will he react when he comes home?”
“Oh, very badly, you can take my word for it,” Dan assured me. “If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s usurpers. Let’s wait until his return, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
In the meantime, I was going to have to explain all this to him, but not by a message, that was obvious. As planned, I would give him a call at his uncle and aunt.
“Please let me tell him about it myself if that’s okay with you.”
“No problem!” Dan nodded.
The others nodded in agreement.
“I guess nobody is hungry?” Georgia asked.
“What?” cried Anneas. “Don’t you think I’m going to deprive myself of eating for that jester? Come on, I invite you all!”
“Without me, sorry. If you don’t mind, I have to speak about all of this to Grigore.”
However, with or without their permission, I would do it anyway.
“Grigore?” Dan asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why not Rucker? Have there been any changes that we’re not yet aware of?”
I shook my head.
“We haven’t heard from him since last night.”
All three displayed genuine surprise.
“How is that?” Etienne asked me.
I let out a deep sigh of resignation.
“Don’t draw conclusions too quickly, please… Rucker had an appointment with the server of the Red Lion shortly before his death.”
“Oh!” Georgia exclaimed.
Etienne wrinkled his forehead noticeably.
“Could he be responsible?”
I looked up at him blankly. My confidence in Rucker was unshakeable, but realizing that he had had the idea of disappearing altogether, I was suddenly afraid that a rift had crept insidiously into my perception of things.
“No,” I decided to answer confidently. “This is the reason why Grigore exceeds the recommendations of the Council by going to question the landlord himself. We need his information before we do anything ourselves, you know? We may not even need to be involved.”
“Very well,” Dan agreed. “But John will cause problems. Hurry to warn Grigore.”
I nodded.
“I’ll keep you informed.”
“See you later, Scarlett,” Georgia said.
I turned around and headed for college. As I walked, I reached into my coat pocket to pull out my phone so I could call Grigore. He answered almost immediately, with that irritating habit of saying his first name instead of the traditional hello.
“It’s Scarlett. I need to talk to you. Where are you?”
“With Simon and Rufus, at college. Where do we meet? The Corner?”
“No. Walls have ears. Let’s meet at my place. Do you know my address?”
“Yes. See you soon.”
No sooner had I buried my phone in my duffle coat when a downpour fell on St Andrews. I swore between my teeth. My bag was left open and in no time the loose sheets inside were gone and the few miserable notes I had taken that morning wiped out. I was going to have to scramble to get someone else’s. In a bad mood and soaked to the skin, I arrived ten minutes later outside my building. Grigore waited quietly, well protected on the porch.
“Looks like you took a hell of a rinse.”
Behind my back, I heard him gently mock me as I searched the back of my bag for the keys. Hair dripping with rain on my forehead, eyelids lowered, I whirled around to stare at him.
He gave me a wink and reached out to push open the door I had just opened and let me through.
“After you, Water Princess.”
“Cretin!”
He burst out laughing.
“I love when you say sweet words to me!”
“Pff!”
As soon as I got into the apartment, I got rid of my boots and my coat, inviting Grigore to make himself comfortable as well.
“Rucker?” I asked him.
“Still nothing…”
I felt my throat tighten and swallowed my saliva to cover up the anxiety that was gripping me.
“I stayed with Morel and Corwin last night. They’re not doing well.”
“I suspect it...”
I let out a long sigh, shaking my head.
“I have to use the bathroom and change, make yourself at home.”
In no time, I found myself in the shower, driven by an urgent need to wash away the bad morning. After an abundant and meticulous soaping, I put my head back, let the hot water run over my face, and closed my eyelids.
A werewolf could endure many illnesses, beatings, and injuries, but apparently, not stress. My body found itself subjected to tensions impossible to manage and all the showers in the world couldn’t relax me.
With my eyes closed, I found myself praying for my friend to show up as soon as possible, so when the landline rang, I nearly slipped on the tiles. I left without drying myself, wrapped a towel around my chest, and hurried out of the bedroom to pick up the phone. Under Grigore’s surprised eyes, I stormed into the entrance hall barefoot, no drier than when we had walked through the front door.
“Hello?”
“Hello, sweetheart, it’s mom.”
“Ah... mom.”
“You don’t seem particularly delighted to have me on the phone!”
I mumbled under my breath.
“No, mom, sorry. I was expecting an important phone call. How are you doing?”
“Good, very good. Your friend Kaley called home, she has been trying to reach you for several days, she says that you don’t answer her emails. Also, your mobile number isn’t available! Have you changed your number?”
“I… yes, I’ve had another one since last Friday and I forgot to tell you. I’ll send you an SMS as soon as I hang up, I don’t know it by heart.”
“You’ll also think of sending it to Kaley?”
“Yes. Is she okay?”
“I think so. She was worried not to hear from you.”
“I just didn’t think about it, mom…”
“Don’t forget to contact her quickly.”
“Promised.”
“Is Elgin still in Wick? He hasn’t visited us for a while.”
As if she could see me, I shook my head vigorously.
“No. He’s with his uncle and aunt, in the Orkney Islands. He’s due back next Tuesday.”
“If we don’t see him again by then, kiss him from the three of us. Four! It might not be the custom here, but Millie wouldn’t miss Elgin’s cheek for the world.”
My mother’s clear laughter echoed over the phone and I immediately felt better. With May, she was one of the few who knew how to do that, calm me down without realizing it.
“I’ll tell him.”
“This was just a quick call, so I’ll leave you. It’s my day off, but I have loads of things to do for high school. Is everything all right?”
“Absolutely!” I reassured her as best I could. “I miss you, mom.”
“Me too, my dear. See you soon.”
I put the receiver down and turned to Grigore, who smirked looking down the length of my towel. I felt the red rise in my cheeks.
“What? Do you never take a shower?”
The glint of mischief that shone in his eyes spoke for itself. Grigore was a seducer, a woman-eater, although I’d never seen him in their company. But I knew this from a reliable source.
An amused smile spread across his lips.
“The towel suits you so well…, princess.”
In less time than it took to think it, I grabbed a cushion from an armchair and threw it with all my strength at his face. He dodged, bursting into laughter.
“Stop eyeing me and stop calling me princess!”
“As you command, prin...”
“Grigore!”
“Okay, I’ll stop,” he amended, resuming his seriousness. “I worry about Rucker, Scarlett.”
It was with a pang of heart that I saw his face gradually lose its composure. Rucker was his oldest friend and I knew how much they needed each other.
“I know. Let me get dressed and I’ll join you in the living room to chat.”
He nodded, turned his back, and went to stand in front of the window. When I returned, wearing a pair of jeans and a woollen sweater, he hadn’t moved.
“The pack has just divided,” I informed him, without preamble.
He c****d his head to the side, looking like he had misheard.
“Which means that half of us will do as it wishes.”
“I see,” he said simply.
“I don’t even know how I’m going to tell Elgin,” I whispered to myself.
“Who’s the new pack leader?”
Grigore had met each of them at least once, no need to describe them, he would understand perfectly well who I was talking about.
“John took the lead, followed by Eddy, Mario, Tony and Jeff. They intend to question the landlord of the Red Lion. What did he say to you? Did you get anything out of him?”
“McCarthy says he doesn’t know anything and for once I don’t feel like he’s lying. The server simply had to hand over an invoice to Rucker, since he hadn’t been to the pub in ages.”
“What invoice?”
“Services rendered.”
“Services rendered? What kind? I don’t see what that scoundrel can do that would interest Rucker!”
“He’s an informant, Scarlett. This is the only reason the Council tolerates him in St Andrews territory and his head hasn’t yet been detached from his body. McCarthy hangs out with the worst scrapes on the planet. He’s a useful pest.”
“But this time he doesn’t know anything?” I insisted suspiciously.
“I think not.”
I rested my butt on the couch heavily and rubbed my eyes.
“What about the Council? What did it say?”
“The Council is strangely silent, but this doesn’t prevent the community of dark angels from wanting to find a culprit.”
“It’s always the same,” I grumbled.
“The rumour is already circulating that a werewolf attacked him. You know mine don’t need proof for that. That means revenge will not be long coming...”
A life for a life. This sinister phrase would never leave me again.
“What about you? What do you think? Dark angel or werewolf?”
I felt like I had asked this question a million times since yesterday.
He sighed deeply.
“Sincerely?”
“Yes.”
“I think it’s a dark angel.”
I couldn’t hide my astonishment.
“In the oldest vampiric tradition, when two vampire warriors clashed, the victor took with him the head of the vanquished. It was a very strong symbol, testifying to the omnipotence of the winner.”
“Oh…”
For a long moment, I thought about it, imagining how the server could have been butchered and beheaded without anyone noticing.
“Yes, kid. This story isn’t particularly simple.”
“We agree, you and I, that Rucker has nothing to do with it?”
He blinked slowly in agreement.
“In that case, what’s the connection with him? What went through his mind to take off like that? If something had happened to him, did you think about this?”
“Yes, Scarlett. It’s because his brothers haven’t heard from him that I can’t bring myself to believe that he just wanted to leave for a while. He would never leave them alone without giving them a reason.”
I frowned forcefully.
“What are you thinking? The murderer could have...”
I stopped when I felt a spasm of anguish rise in my throat.
“No. He would have killed him on the spot, in the same way.”
“Tell me what you think, Grigore,” I insisted. “Because I’m lost.”
In his eyes, from the front of the window where he hadn’t moved an inch, I saw an ominous glow twinkle, belying his apparent calm.
“I believe the server was coming to give Rucker an envelope and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I also think that a dark angel intended to get his hands on Rucker and that he ended up suppressing any witnesses who could recognize him or who would have stood in his way.”
“Rucker was kidnapped?” I cried in fear.
Grigore vaguely nodded.
“That’s what I think.”
I jumped up from the sofa.
“But… who? Rucker is strong, very strong, he wouldn’t have let himself be taken!”
“There exists stronger than him, Scarlett.”
“And nobody saw anything?”
“And more skilful, too.”
Suddenly I felt dangerously close to tears.
“My God! What... what are we going to do if what you say is true? Do you have a lead, anything?”
“Perhaps…”
“Talk to me!” I heard myself scream.
The expression on Grigore’s face had taken on such rage when he looked at me.
“Pitt might be no stranger to all of this. The possibility must be considered.”
And my heart stopped beating.
I hadn’t heard or spoken his name for a year, trying to bury the memory of his anger as one would hide a terrible secret in a box whose key had been thrown away.
“Are you not sure?”
“No… For several reasons.”
“What are you going to do then?”
“To try to understand.”
I narrowed my eyes with a slight nod of my head.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I know.”
He made me understand with a look that he would not give me more explanation.
I didn’t insist on this point.
“He would have kidnapped him himself?”
My heart swells at the mere thought of Pitt being around.
“No.”
“Someone would have taken care of it for him, then?” I insisted.
“I don’t know, Scarlett. I’ll look.”
“Why? Why is he after Rucker? Because he chose me? Because he didn’t support him?”
Grigore remained completely impassive. His anger was betrayed only by the tension that made his jaw muscles twitch.
“And he intends to attack everyone, like this? How long will it last?”
He opened his mouth to answer me but was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the house phone. I threw myself on it.
“Hello?”
“It’s John.”
It was in an extremely dry tone that I answered him.
“What do you want?”
“A second decapitated body has just been discovered. A werewolf.”
- Writer
