Deceived By the Others

chapter 27



“What?” Master of the witty comeback, that’s me.

“It’s possible the infection hasn’t spread enough to prevent the change into a vampire instead. It would be risky, but you could become one of us if you wish. You’ll need to make the choice quickly, though, for I can’t guarantee it would work. The longer you wait, the less likely the change would take hold.”

I rubbed my forehead with the heel of my hand, scrunching my eyes closed as a stress headache bloomed. “Run that by me again.”

His voice seemed to reach me from a distance, echoing through a wall of shock that had settled comfortably between me and reality. “It may not be too late for you to make a choice. You would be far better off if you were one of us. Immortality alone would be an immense benefit over the reduced lifespan of a Were. Think about it, at the very least.”

“… Reduced lifespan?” For whatever reason, that cut through my haze and brought with it a fresh rush of terror. “Please tell me you are saying that in comparison to the life of a vampire.”

“I’m afraid not. Their increased metabolism helps them heal faster, yes, but it also means their bodies age far more quickly. Though this is certainly not true in every case, and I’m sure there have been no hard scientific studies on the matter, in my experience they do not last much beyond forty, perhaps forty-five years of age.”

More surprises Chaz had never shared with me.

“This is too much. I’m sorry, Royce, it’s—this is just too much. I need to go.”

“I understand. Think about my offer. I’ll check back tonight.”

I hung up without saying good-bye. My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and my eyes positively burned with strain, aching in waves that pulsed in time with my now pounding headache. My hands shook, and I struggled to keep from giving in to the looming panic attack.

The choices laid out before me were terrifying. No matter which way I looked at it, there seemed no right answer.

Sit back and do nothing? I might or might not be infected. There was a possibility nothing would happen to me. Arnold might even be able to do something about it; he’d promised to check to see if The Circle had any spells that would cure lycanthropy.

Then again, if I was infected and there was no cure, I could look forward to life as an outcast from Were society, disowned by my family and crucified by the media. Oh, and shaving who knew how many years off my expected lifespan.

If I took Royce’s offer, I’d have an eternity to look forward to of drinking blood, never seeing sunlight, and watching my friends and family gradually die off, one by one. I’d be no more than a monster preying upon people to survive, hiding behind a human mask.

I’d never been particularly religious, despite my mother’s efforts. Popular opinion was that vampires and werewolves had no immortal souls; if they ever had, the soul fled the body once they turned. Either way, in Mom’s eyes, I’d be treading the path of the damned.

Sick did not begin to cover how I felt.

I stayed that way on the bed, empty, drained of life and unable to do so much as shed a tear, for quite a long time. It wasn’t until nearly noon that I realized how late it had gotten and that Sara had neither shown nor called. I checked the office to see if she’d forgotten to pick me up and gone in without me. The answering machine greeted me instead of Jen’s cheerful voice. Frowning, I called Sara’s cell next, my concern deepening as the call went straight to voice mail—which was completely full and wouldn’t accept any new messages.

Not wanting to deal with what that might mean, I tossed the phone down and headed for the shower. That should help me wake up a bit. Perhaps Sara’s phone would be turned back on after I got out.

Twenty minutes later, I was clean, refreshed, and didn’t look quite so much like I’d just risen from the dead. My temper wasn’t improved, but that was par for the course.

When I stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Sara was sitting on my bed, gray faced. She looked as bad as I felt; her blond hair, normally salon-straight and perfectly coiffed, was tangled and unbrushed. Her clear blue eyes were bloodshot, while her skin had taken on an ashen pallor under the late summer tan. Even her clothes, usually perfectly pressed, were rumpled, the buttons on her shirt done up unevenly.

“Jesus, Sara, you look like shit.”

What would normally have gotten a similar crack out of her didn’t come off quite as I’d expected. She burst into tears.

“Holy hell, what’s wrong?!” I rushed forward, but she held up a hand to stop me, wiping at her eyes with the other. She still didn’t say anything. Frustrated, I backtracked, grabbed a box of tissues from the bathroom, and settled down beside her on the bed. As she took one of the tissues I offered, I noticed the papers crumpling up under my butt; I’d sat down on a newspaper.

I rose just enough to pull the papers from under me, staring at the headline screaming off the first page of today’s news.



NEW YORK’S WEREWOLVES DON’T PLAY





BY THE RULES





By JIM PRADIZ





MANHATTAN (Oct. 6) – A dangerous trend has surfaced in New York’s werewolf community. Local packs have come under intense scrutiny by government-funded regulatory bodies; recent investigations into the actions of the Sunstriker and Ravenwood packs have produced evidence that some of these werewolves don’t adhere to federal guidelines of gaining signed authorization from their victims prior to exposure to the lycanthropy virus.





Evidence is mounting that many of these werewolves have chosen to work outside the bounds of the required contracts that legalize intimate contact between humans and Others. When the Other-Citizen Amendment to the Constitution, Article XIV-1(B), was passed on November 12, 2001, it was determined that no intimate physical contact would be permitted between Others and any human who had not yet signed and filed an agreement giving their full consent to potential injury or death at the hands of their Other-citizen sponsor.





It has become apparent that New York’s werewolves do not always honor this legal requirement. Instances have been documented of some of these creatures having potentially infected and even turned humans without a legally signed and filed contract in place.





Deputy Chief of Police Alberto Rodriguez made a statement regarding the accusations. “We have received reports of unlawful activity in the Other community. Rest assured, this situation is under investigation. All I can say at this point is that anyone considering friendship or close connection to an Other-citizen should be very wary of the potential consequences.”





Calls for comment to the leaders of the Sunstrikers and Ravenwoods have not been returned. Rohrik Donovan, leader of the Moonwalkers and lauded for his involvement in Other-citizen rights activities, refused to comment. Donovan is best known for his work to spearhead progressive changes for Other-citizens to help them be more accepted by our society.





This reporter has found in the process of undercover investigation information that victims of potential or confirmed infection outside of a contract include:





• Trish Booker, the CEO of Fortune 5,000 company Gen-U-Con, Inc.;





• Reed Thompson, a student at NYU;





• Ethan Peyton, an EMT;





• Patrick Driscoll, an attorney;





• Aurora Vacchio, an actress; and





• Shiarra Waynest, local private investigator.





(See photo spread, next page.)





Deputy Chief Rodriguez confirmed that there may be other victims based on witness statements and evidence at hand, but that no arrests have yet been made. Several suspects have been detained for questioning.





Per public records, Waynest and Booker were contractually bound to vampire Alec Royce prior to exposure to lycanthropy infection. No records were found of contracts lawfully filed involving the victims and the werewolves identified in the incidents, or documentation indicating a connection with or an end to their obligations to the vampire.





Comments from such anti-werewolf groups as Mothers Against Others and the White Hats have been unanimous: “Something must be done to stop these creatures from spreading their disease.”





I stared down at the spread. Turned the page. Stared at the pictures.

No wonder the reporter hadn’t bothered me since that brief meeting at breakfast. He’d snapped pictures of me clutching my injured arm, one of the werewolves visible as a huge presence looming nearby. Jim must have set up camp somewhere outside, waiting patiently for someone to do something stupid enough to merit a spot in his story, which he’d clearly been planning to print regardless of what happened over the weekend. The other victims pictured were caught in similar poses, looking as frightened and shocked as I did as they clutched at what were obviously fresh wounds from the werewolves looming in the background. How he’d managed to capture the photos wasn’t my concern.

With that picture of me to act as the proverbial icing, he had neatly ruined every chance I had of keeping my problem a secret.

Though my reaction was delayed by shock, it didn’t take long for the enormity of having my picture and name attached to the article hit me. The papers fell from my nerveless fingers, scattering on the floor as I sank back onto the bed. Sara was watching me with watery eyes, the tissue clutched over her mouth.

I closed my eyes and bowed my head, saying nothing. My whole body shook with the effort of containing my fury. The need to find an outlet was sudden and intense. The desire to take out the belt and use it for the hunt was greater than anything I had ever experienced, even eclipsing the memories of craving and withdrawal from Royce’s blood. If I wasn’t careful, I might lash out at anyone at this point—even Sara.

“They’ve been calling the office,” she said, hushed, uncertain.

I paused before speaking, afraid of what might spill out of my mouth if I wasn’t careful. “Who?”

“Police. Reporters. Political activists. You name it. I gave Jen the okay to turn the phone off. They’ve been calling my cell, too.”

My neck creaked from tension when I turned to her. For her part, she held her ground, not flinching at the look I gave her.

“It won’t be long before they start knocking on our doors,” she said, ever so gently placing a hand on my arm. She wasn’t afraid of me; she was concerned. That brought with it a breath of relief, brief and ephemeral as butterfly wings. “Do you want to stay with me until the worst of this blows over?”

I looked around the tiny bedroom, at the pictures hanging on the wall, and the tchotchkes lined up on my dresser. My gaze zeroed in on the picture in the middle. My whole family gathered in the backyard, with Sara and Chaz and Arnold, taken at my younger brother’s birthday party earlier this year. Arnold had been pretending to be my boyfriend that day; Chaz hadn’t liked it, but he’d been civil enough about it. That day had started the chain of events that led to my getting back together with him, back when I thought he was a decent guy. When I thought that breaking up with him had been a mistake.

If not for him, I wouldn’t be in this mess. Sara wouldn’t be looking at me with a mixture of pity and horror.

I wouldn’t have to worry about how long it would take before my parents or brothers saw the paper.

“I don’t know,” I finally replied, the heavy weight of the statement making my voice raw. “My dad has probably already seen this. He always reads the paper in the morning. Did he call the office? My cell was broken on the trip.”

“I haven’t heard from him or your mom yet. I turned off my cell when I figured out yours was off, too. I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier, but I needed a little time… .” She trailed off, voice faint.

I offered a weak smile, which she didn’t return. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not judging. For talking to me about it. For offering to let me stay with you. Shit, Sara, I don’t know. For being my friend.”

She leaned over to put her arm around me, plucking up the box between us and pressing a tissue into my hands. Only then did I realize that tears were spilling down my cheeks.

“F*ck going into work today. Do you have any alcohol?”