More Crime

I wasn't sure if I should go into the alley, Gertinald still gave me the creeps, and I also saw a shadow in the trees. Somehow, I managed to get in to the thinking that it was a good thing the person was here. I don't know why, or what made me think it, but I was right.

 

As I turned into the alley, these two dark black figures closed on the other side of the alley, blocking the outside light. Gertinald came in the alley behind me. Maybe I was the target? Wait, where's Nate, and why am I here? Questions swarmed in my head. I saw the shadow move in the trees. Still, the shadow felt like a friend, not a friend.

 

Then, he showed himself. Elijah ran out of the trees, turned, then slashed at Gertinald.

 

"Elijah! What are you doing here?" I asked him in great surprise. I didn't think he'd come, or heard my silent message.

 

"You called me out, remember?"

 

"Yeah, but like an hour ago."

 

"Yeah, and I've been waiting here for like half an hour. Who am I slashing at?"

 

"Him? Oh, that's Gertinald. He's the one who tuned me." I replied to his question.

 

"So why am I the one tackling this guy?" He asked me, I didn't know why he was, which was weird.

 

"I don't know why you are?" I challenged him.

 

"I don't know! Okay, fine! I'll get off him." As soon as he got off, I had to run hard. Why, you may ask. It was all because once Elijah loosened his grip, Gertinald slashed right past him and straight toward me. Boy, was I in some serious furry problem.

 

"Elizabeth, he blocked your mind signal. He was messing with your brain. That's why you didn't get my reply, did you." He told me as we were running away. 

 

We were going to circle the city twice, then head home. That way, Gertinald will never find us. We had agreed that we'd look for Nathan in the morning, in the light. 

 

"What reply? You never replied to me!" I told him.

 

"Oh yes I did. See, that's my point. He was blocking your thoughts from mine. He was going to do something to you, but I don't know what. I had a very bad feeling about him when I first saw him when you two were walking towards the alleyway." He had a bad feeling about him? What? Was that a double meaning I detected, or just my nerves talking?

 

"You had a bad feeling? What do you mean?" I asked him out of my curiosity.

 

He hesitated, trying to find out what to say, I guess. Then he spoke about a minute later. "I don't know, he just didn't seem like he was very nice." Still, I detected a double meaning in those words. Why was I sensing a double meaning?

 

"Okay..." I said, still wondering what his other meanings behind those chosen words were. 

 

It was still dark, pitch black, actually. There were barely any street lights, but in the town the size of Siloam Springs, you don't exactly need them because no one drove out this late at night. 

 

"Alright, this is the last straw. Tell your sister now about you being a werewolf. When we get back to the house, wake her up and tell her. I don't care what it will cost you or me or her in the future, but she still needs to know. Your brother's is missing. Tell her." I told him. He really needed to tell her.

 

I knew from the beginning that I needed to tell my sister, but convinced myself not to. She was too young, and she still had no idea how painful it would be to become one. She wanted to be one too. If I told her, she'd probably beg me to change her, and I'm not going to risk that.

 

"I know. Don't remind me. It's just that..." I hesitated, trying to figure out how to put it in words that she'd understand. "She'd ask me to transfer herself into a werewolf. I can't risk that." I hoped that she'd understand that. She did.

 

"I understand that, but I doubt it would make a difference if you'd wake her up now. She'd be sleepy and won't think strait." She had a point.

 

"No, I'm not waking her up. She'd hit and kick me first. On something else, ya I'd wake her up this late. But this? No, no chance in that." Did that sound to revealing? To me it sure did.

 

"Do you want me to wake her up? Because I will." Yep, it did. 

 

"No, it'd be bad if she'd saw you in the house after my parents are asleep. She'd tell him. I'll tell her tomorrow. I promise." I replied. Why did I say I promise? It sounded too gushy for me to ever say that. Elizabeth caught that.

 

"You promise? Really? Because you always break your promises." Oh yeah. I'd almost forgotten about that. 

 

"Fine, I DON'T promise. Happy?"

 

"Not quite. If you don't tell her by the time I see her tomorrow, I'm going to tell her. Okay?" Oh great. Fine, I'd wake her up when we get home.

 

"Fine, I'll wake her up when get home, alright?"

 

"Finally you'll tell her. Are you really going to?"

 

"Yes, I'm tired of you bugging me to, so I'll do it." I probably shouldn't have said that. Just "Yes" would be suffice.

 

"Good. Now let's circle the town once more, and then go home." She told me. 

 

"That's fine with me." I replied to her.

They returned to their houses, Elizabeth went to Elijah's window to his room and waited outside until he opened the window and let her in. Her mind's communication was working and everything was back to normal. When he opened the window, Elizabeth came in quietly, careful as to not disturb anything or yell in pain to wake up his parents. 

 

"Why is this window so high?" She moaned in pain. 

 

When she finally got down from the window, he went across the dark, short hallway, into Haylee's room. Haylee, for some reason was already awake. 

 

"What were you doing away? Yes, I found you out of bed, Mom and Dad don't know. Now tell me. Now. What's wrong with you?" Just then, he motioned for Elizabeth to come in. "Elizabeth! What are you doing here?" 

 

"I can't exactly explain it well, so I'll show you. Elizabeth knew all the time what is going on, didn't you?" He motioned for Elizabeth to answer.

 

"Yeah, I did, but he asked me not to tell anyone. Especially you. Mind, I didn't want to, and I tried to persuade him to tell you, but he kept refusing me. Then Nate was hurt, and when I went into my room, a man was in my room. He told me to come with him alone. I should have told you before, but he made me keep it a secret."

 

When Elizabeth said that, I was a bit scared. What are they going to tell me? As soon as Elizabeth said that, Elijah jumped in and told me more about it. I still didn't understand.

 

"Would you just get to the point? I have to sleep, if you haven't noticed, it's 2 in the morning!" I said, very grumpily.

 

"Fine, Haylee. But I'm warning you now. It may not be what you expected." Elizabeth and Elijah replied at the same time. What were they meaning?

 

"What? Just tell me already." I replied to them.

 

"He's going to show you, because you won't believe him if we just tell you." Elizabeth told me and him, and then nodded toward Elijah. Elijah groaned a bit. Whatever he was about to tell, or show, me he didn't like, want, or maybe he still didn't want me to know. I don't know, he just groaned. 

 

Then it happened. It was scary. It was like a dog replaced my brother. A large, tall, overgrown dog was right in front of me. Not what I expected, huh? Yeah, you can definitely say that. 

 

"Elijah still has his senses, but he won't ever be the same anymore. He can now read your mind, so you can't lie to him." Elizabeth explained to me. How could she have taken this so calmly?

 

Because I'm one too. A voice in my head said to me. It sounded just like Elizabeth's too. 

 

"That's because I am one as well. And yes, that voice in your head was me talking to you silently in your head. You can't reply back, but I can talk to you. I can read your thoughts." Elizabeth said. "You can't intercept messages, like we can. You can only hear what we want you to hear, when we want you to hear it." 

 

"Wow... That's a lot to take in." I said, partially to myself. "How far is your range?" I asked Elizabeth.

 

"I don't know yet, but I can hear you across the town." She probably was wondering why I had asked that question. Or maybe she already knew.

 

Maybe she could turn me into a werewolf? Would it be a painful process? I've always wondered what it would be like, but never met one in life. Now I have two rights in front of me, and one was living with me. My brother was a werewolf, and he never told me. 

 

"You have to promise to tell not a single soul, not even your own parents. Do you swear?" Elizabeth asked me to do the impossible. Not tell a soul? But I had to keep it a secret, it would harm my family's reputation, and make me have less friends. No one would believe me. 

 

"Looks like I have no choice, but I have one question," I hesitated to add effects to my brother and friend. Elizabeth did a hand gesture to signal me to keep going and ask away. "Maybe two. Okay first one, does it hurt, when you turn, I mean?"

 

"My, you go straight to the pain question. The first time, yeah, it hurts like hell, but it's quite like braces. The longer you have them on, the more you get used to them." Of course she'd use braces. She had them for a few years.

 

"Okay then, Can you turn me into a werewolf?" I really wanted to turn into a werewolf. It was mostly my life's dream.

 

See, I knew she'd ask. I told you! What are you going to tell her? Elijah sure was getting on my nerves about that one part. Listen, you creep. I sent back to him.

 

"I could, but I'm not going to. It's more like a living curse, and it'll destroy you. Plus, there's no way out of it, no cure available." I replied to her.

 

I've got a plan. I sent back to him. Just do what I say, okay? I've got to turn into a werewolf now. You turn out of one now. Got it?

 

Yeah. Fine. Then he turned out of a werewolf and into a human. At that time, I turned into a werewolf. 

 

Now, say that the man in my room was a werewolf in my bedroom. Don't give her any details about him, just tell her about him.

 

Okay, whatever you say.

 

Tell her! NOW!

 

Alright, alright! "She says that the man in her room was a werewolf." Elijah told her.

 

"Okay, why are you telling me this?" She asked, looking directly at me.

 

Tell her that he told me about Nathan being hurt, trapped. 

 

You sure? I don't think we should tell her that tale yet.

 

Yes, it's relevant. Just do it. 

 

Fine! "He told her about Nathan being injured, trapped."

 

Now what, smart one?

 

Tell her that he told me to go, alone. 

 

"He told her to go alone, with him."

 

"Okay... Why are you telling me this," she asked me. Why so direct?

 

Ignore her.

 

Okay. Now what do I tell her?

 

Tell her that I had sent you a message and asked you to come outside.

 

Okay. "She sent me a message and asked me to come outside."

 

Good. She's taking this well. All right. Tell her that he led me to the same exact place where you first got bitten and turned. He did. 

 

"Why are you telling me all this?" She asked, once again. I was getting tired of her repeating questions. 

 

Tell her that you saved me from him. How he was cornering me.  He did, and again, she asked her same question.

 

She's annoying me. Can you get to the point?

 

Be patient. 

 

Why? It's almost 2:30! Please get to the point.

 

Okay, tell her that I think I know where he is.

 

"Elizabeth says she thinks she knows where Nathan is."

 

"Okay, again, what do you want me to do?" Then I changed back into my humane figure. 

 

"I told you that story through him because I want you to come with us. In daylight, we're going back there to search for clues of Nathan's disappearance."

 

"We are?" Elijah asked, then realized his mistake that he said it aloud, then said, "Oh yeah, we are." The joy of boys.

 

"I'm in. When are we going?" Haylee asked. 

 

"Tomorrow. Now go to sleep, you're going to need it." Then I left her room and slipped out of their house and back into my own, across the sleep. Man, it was really good to be back into my own bed again! 

 

When I woke up, I was lazy. Maybe because it was from last night, telling her that late, or early, in the dark night. I was so tired, that I was awake, but didn't move any muscle in my body. Not even the paranormal ones. As my eyelids raced up and down sleepily, I wondered if Elijah was up yet, so I sent him a cannonball. Are you awake yet? 

 

Yes, of course I am. Are you?

 

No, duh! I'm so sleepy though.

 

Okay... Come on out and help me with my annoying sister. Oh yeah! We had to go back and look for Nathan today! I'd almost forgotten. 

 

On my way. Be there in a couple of minutes. I rubbed my eyes, and tried to wake up quickly. I swiftly put my clothes on, went to the restroom and splashed freezing cold water onto my sleepy face. I then practically ran into the kitchen and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. I found my grandmother talking on her phone, as she always did, on the porch. I told her in between bites of cereal that I was going to go downtown today. She'd never let me go down that street. Never. Once I finished my cereal, I put the bowl in the washer and kissed her good-bye. I ran across the street and found Haylee and Elijah waiting there for me, with an anxious look on their faces. 

 

"You said a couple of minutes. What kept you?" Elijah asked me, clearly annoyed. He had mood swings that were almost unbearable.

 

"Sorry. My grandmother kept asking me to do things," I replied.

 

"Well come on now. We'll be going by bikes and motor scooters. But Elizabeth, be prepared to lose the motor when we need to be stealthy." Elijah informed us. Funny, wasn't I the one supposed to inform us?

 

Okay, so I was informing the group that we were going to save Nathan by bikes and scooters. Once Elizabeth got her Grandfather's scooter, we rode together quickly to Beethoven Avenue. We rode up and down, back and forth, but couldn't find one trace of my brother. Where had he gone?

 

"Maybe he's not here." Haylee said, her eyes pouting. She clearly wanted to find him.

 

"Let's go once more up and down. Stop by any house and search it if it looks anything out of the ordinary." Elizabeth told the group.

 

"Uh, Elizabeth, has it escaped your notice, EVERY house on this street is abnormal." Haylee informed her. I secretly agreed with Haylee, but didn't say anything.

"I mean any house that looks anything like what'll hold Nathan. Trashed, blood stains..." She trailed off, looking toward our right, her face confused. Did she find a clue, or was she thinking? "Like that." She pointed to the side of the road and we pulled over to get a better look at what it was. It was a small blood stain in the shape of a tear drop. The person bleeding was on the move. It pointed to a house right in front of it. The house was beige with black trimming. It was made of that wood stuff they use to build houses now. The house looked spooky, dark in side, the windows were nailed shut. The grass was way overgrown. It looked as if nobody lived there for a century. Surely Nathan wouldn't be in here? 

 

When I saw the house, I wasn't sure we should go into it. Maybe Elijah and Elizabeth were wrong, and Nathan, if that's whose blood that was on the road, was leaving the house and going to the house diagonal from this house. 

"Are you sure we should go in to this old, ripped house?" I asked them.

 

"Yeah, but you stay here. Elijah, stay in the front room and wait for me to give you two a signal. I don't want either of you to get hurt if I can help it." Elizabeth replied to me. I did as she asked, bored. I looked at the other house and thought that maybe, just maybe, I should go have a look over there. I looked at Elijah's face, which definitely looked very scared. I decided that I shouldn't leave him here, so I stayed, unhappily. I thought that this was going to be fun, adventurous, not boring, and still!

 

"Come in, you have to see this, Haylee, Elijah!" Elizabeth practically yelled. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and went to where her voice sounded. When I got there, I was genuinely surprised at what my eyes set on.

 

I entered into the house, and looked all through it. It was vacant and boring. White walls, tan carpets, that sort of thing. There were dead bugs everywhere, and you really had to watch your step. I walked into what would've been a bedroom and saw that the only piece of furniture in the house was a blood-stained couch. Despite the blood, the couch was wooden framed with a white and forest green pattern to the fabric. It looked like stabbed a white and green zebra. Okay, so somebody had been here and lay at this couch in this room. The spots were large enough to see that this person had lost a lot of blood. If Nate was this person, surely he'd had died. 

 

"Come in! You have to see this! Haylee, Elijah!" I called to the others just waiting for me to yell for outside. They needed to see this because our mystery and problems just grew much larger. 

 

What was she calling us into the house about? I hope it is important, I thought to myself as I ran inside to see what Elizabeth was calling us in for. When I swiftly breezed past the walls of many rooms, I finally found her in the vacant house in the only room that had a piece of furniture. When I saw what stained the furniture, I screamed. Not intentionally, but I did. That's when my protective brother, Elijah came into the room. 

The futon, which was the furniture, was heavily stained in red blood. Whoever's blood this was must be very hurt, or worse, dead. I couldn't bear that fact. Our brother, small and cute, dead? I know it could be someone else, but I somehow doubted it.

 

"Whose blood could this be? We obviously need to find out fast, before they die, if they're still alive!" I shrieked.

 

"Haylee, it may not be Nathan. It may be some other person. If this was Nathan's blood, then he'd be dead. There's absolutely no way a boy his size would survive this much blood loss. It's not causable. It'd have to be someone else. We have to remain hopeful, okay?" Elizabeth hesitated, looking at me and Elijah carefully with her eyes looking through her rough brown hair. "Just hope that it's not Nathan, that it's someone who is much stronger than he is, like Gertinald." Why did she say that? "I say him because this person was obviously a werewolf; there are traces of werewolf hair all over this place. This species would have to be a different kind then we are, much fiercer, much more dangerous. We'd better get out of here." Then she left the room, leaving me and Elijah, afraid to move a muscle. What did she mean?

 

"Elizabeth, wait up! Wait!" I panted after her as I began to run as fast as my smaller legs could carry me. Elijah was just in front of me, running without breaking a little sweat. I really wish that they'd bite me already, if that's how you turn into a werewolf. I mean, I was always the one who wanted to be one since, like forever! 

 

Then she started slowing down, and I almost crashed into her back. Really? When we stopped, she stared at an empty lot. Vacant of a house, but not vacant of a couple of homeless people, apparently. When we walked into the gates, and shut them, there were a ton of mats, clothes, blankets, and other supplies. There were even a couple of sticks gathered together in a circle, presumably a fire pit. There were a couple of man-made tents, hand built on the spot. Oh, and the grass was grossly overgrown. 

 

"EWW! Why are we in here?" I moaned to Elizabeth. 

 

"Because I smelled something that smelled strangely familiar." She replied, scaring me about what she's talking about "Strangely Familiar." I hope it's not bad, strange. I also hoped it was meant to be a clue about where Nathan was. This looking for him is surely getting me very tired and bored, and it was only Noon! I felt like crawling back into bed, going back to sleep, I was so tired!

 

"There it is!" Elizabeth exclaimed, loudly. She almost burst my ears to its deafness. I was now wide awake, thanks to her. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. I can think a little more clearly now. That was until I saw what she was talking about: a small, bloody cover. Black, to be specific. It was the sort of cover that you see the crime TV shows personal pull over dead bodies when they find them at a crime. Uh-oh. I hope this isn't Nathan. It would be very bad news, very bad indeed. Oh, and sad! Very sad! My mother, what would happen to her? This is her baby, we're talking about! Her youngest child! They say that it's never right for a child to die before the mother does, and it certainly isn't. This would be very bad news if we were to open it and it had Nathan inside. 

 

Yet, for some reason, I didn't suspect that Nathan was in it. If it wasn't Nathan, though, then who could be in it?

 

We left the house in a hurry and rode quickly out. Haylee was screaming for us to stop. Poor girl, she wasn't very strong and didn't run well. I stopped suddenly, just to make her a bit happy, but she ran straight into me.

 

"Watch it, will ya?" I told her. She straightened up quickly, and then walked ahead. There, that'll give her some piece of mind. Or at least me. 

 

Then I caught a slight gust of wind, and smelled something oddly familiar. I started running toward it. When the scent got closer, I realized it led me into a vacant lot with a vacant yard. Apparently, this lot was home to a lot of homeless people. Why? Well, it would be obvious to those of us who aren't! There were rugs, food, blankets, mats... Just about anything you could think of, it was most certainly there. There were a couple of trees in this yard which had a couple of ten-like-areas. That wasn't what caught me though. It was behind this homeless mess, behind the tents, even behind the garage-or the remnants of a garage. I ran right through the mess. When I got to the edge of the old garage, I saw a black body bag. It was long, approximately 5 feet, 10 inches, and kind of wide, about 2.5 feet wide. I was both scared and excited. I wanted to open the bag, but knew that I shouldn't. I need latex gloves, that way, if the police were to find out, and yes, I'd tell them, after we find Nate, they can't point any fingers at me. I need to run to the store really quick... 

 

"Don't touch anything. Come on, we have to go to the store really quickly. I need to buy some latex gloves." Haylee reached down toward the bag and inched her hand to touch it. "HAYLEE!" I yelled, "I said don't touch anything! Don't touch the bag!"

 

"Why?" She asked me.

 

"It's a crime scene bag. That means that if we were to touch it, the authorities would have our fingerprints. Do you want to be framed for murder, or crime scene interference?" I explained. 

 

"No." 

 

"Then I suggest that you don't dare touch anything around here. Now get on your bike and come with us!" Then to Elijah I said, "Come on, we have to go to the store now!" 

 

We went to the store, and I bought the gloves. I'm glad that I definitely had a job. Man, I didn't know that they'd be so expensive! Then we rode as fast as we could back, and I was the first to open the box of gloves. I felt like I was on N.C.I.S. in a crime scene. It was more than I imagined it, but at the same time, I knew we should leave this project for the authorities, but my curiosity took the better of me. Besides, I really need to find Nathan. It was like it was my destiny. Or maybe it wasn't just a feeling, and it really is my destiny...

 

_____*_____

 

So we came back from the store, and Elizabeth started to pull on her latex gloves. I, having no idea of what she was up to, copied her and put on myself a pair. When she finished adjusting the fingertips of the gloves, she started walking toward the bag. Before she reached the bag, she tied her hair up. It was messy, and everywhere, but I knew why she was doing that. "I don't want my hair to be forensic evidence. They can tell who it is by just a piece of hair. Did you know that?" She sure was careful, and I definitely didn't know that piece of detail. I didn't have that problem because, well, isn't it obvious? I'm a boy; I don't like my hair that long. Elizabeth reached her left hand into the right hand's glove and pulled on a bracelet, or what I'd later find out, a scrunch. She handed it over to Haylee and told her to put her hair up, and Haylee grabbed the band out of Elizabeth's hand and put it in her hair a couple of times.

 

"What's this for?" Haylee asked Lizzy.

 

"I told you two already. Hair could be used as forensic evidence against us." Elizabeth replied.

 

"Okay..." Haylee replied to her, obviously puzzled at the idea.

 

We started toward the bag again, and Elizabeth reached her hand over the bag to find an opening or something. It was like she was a professional at this. Of course, she'd seen it done a million times on TV, so it may be that. She finally found a zipper and pulled the bag open to reveal a face. The face was a horror. It was like a nightmare had come and grabbed me into a game. A nightmare that I could never wake up from. 

 

Author's Note

I think it's 16-21... Again, I'm not sure...

Review?