APEX - Season 2

Ch. 5: The Warning

Rhys

I could have kicked myself. Right across the street from me was the woman responsible for Apex's latest tailspin. And walking away from her was the man who might convince the City Council to push for werewolf exile. Inside the Lucky Seven were a dozen more people who wanted to make my mere existence illegal. Yet here I sat, in my car instead of bursting forth and confronting one of them.

Maybe Calla was rubbing off on me a bit too much because I could hear her voice now telling me to sit tight, gather proof, take that proof to Dev, and trust the law to resolve this. If I made myself visible now, it might be used by Humankind First to show the city that Apex's Alpha was tracking its members and threatening them. And I suppose this assessment wouldn't be so far off the mark.

The urge to do something, to act, to force these people to see reason, threatened to overwhelm my own reasoning. Calla's imaginary voice spoke correctly. I had to resist. Fearing logical thinking would only last me so long, I snapped some photos of both Vicki and Henry Fowling, then started up my engine, intending to get the hell out of there.

Instead, I turned the car around and drove down the road Vicki had taken. Finding out where she was going might open a huge lead for Dev and his team, and who knows when she would surface next? I had to take the shot.

She walked briskly, turning left at the next corner. I followed. It was a busy enough street that I didn't think I would draw too much attention, but when I reached that bend, Vicki was gone.

Had she entered one of the homes on this stretch? Had she gotten into a parked car? There was no sign of her.

"Damnit!" I hit my steering wheel. The photos I'd taken in front of the pub would have to do for tonight.

I noticed the car behind me a few miles later. A dark, nondescript sedan. Could be nothing.

The road that I was on would take me south over halfway back to my place. It was the most direct route, but not the only one. I took the next right and headed for a parkway that would add on about five minutes to my journey. The sedan followed.

Refusing to seem panicked, I meandered through the parkway at a leisurely pace as though I was enjoying the late-night view of the placid lake the road abutted. Once out of the park, I had a choice: Go left, back towards the main drag, or go right, which led into a quiet, hilly neighborhood on Apex's westside. Still eyeing the car behind me, I chose the residential path.

Five turns later, it was obvious that I was being tailed, and just as obvious that they weren't concerned if I knew it.

I sped up, heading back in the general direction of downtown and my building. A mile later, I ran a yellow light, hoping to leave them behind, as though the sort of people chasing me were going to be thwarted by traffic laws.

Surprisingly, they did slow down, then turned.

The tension in my shoulders eased. They had been following me—of that, I had no doubt. Had they been told to stop? Were they only trying to unnerve me for a bit? What the hell was going on?

I glanced in my rear-view mirror, which was probably why I didn't notice an SUV heading towards me until it struck, t-boning my poor rental car on the passengers' side, sending it spinning.

"There's going to be blood," I managed to think before my mind gave way to darkness.

***

I dreamed I was back in our wilderness territory. I lay at the bottom of a ravine, having just chased Calla's would-be suiter off a cliff. A rotten smell emanated from decaying plant matter that my nose was pressed into, and pain emanated from my ribs where several had cracked. There was nothing but coldness and pain until a soft muzzle nudged mine. The rotting stench dissipated, replaced by the soothing scent of cherry blossoms.