Chapter 25 - The Second Encounter

Monday, October 3^rd, 2011

Moon Phase – First Quarter

Over a few seconds, both Alex and Marcus's gazes went back and forth over all the customers; there were eight in total. Mostly younger kids with a few adults. Many of them browsing but all of them had their heads and hair exposed; none with black. The person Alex had seen wearing red was in fact a woman in a windbreaker.

Relieved, but also a bit embarrassed, he felt Marcus tap his shoulder, asking if he was hungry as well. “A little.” He responded, glad to know his friend hadn’t used the excuse just to intercept him.

“I’ll grab you a burger from Ruckers, then.”

“Thanks, and medium rare is fine with me.”

However, no sooner had Marcus nodded to him than another customer entered the store. Looking over, Alex saw the face first. He didn’t need to see the hair after that. His attacker had ditched his red hoodie, leaving an untucked T-shirt.

Alex’s pulse went up in seconds, and his arms trembled as the werewolf locked eyes with him. Holding back a growl, he also stopped his tongue from slipping between his teeth. Marcus noticed instantly, but Alex pushed him back a step.

Everything went quiet around him. Or it felt like it.

Twice in four days?

There was no doubt in his mind anymore. This guy was stalking his friends.

“Hey.” Feeling Marcus shake his shoulders, Alex broke eye contact. He didn’t speak however. All of his attention had gone to this guy, even though he was halfway across the store. “Relax, man.”

“How can I?” Alex said, gripping one hand. “He’s right there.”

Marcus looked around briefly. “Don’t start a scene,” He lowered his voice. “and don’t transform.”

Alex licked his teeth after that. No fangs. Trying to take slower breaths, he looked over to his attacker. He was soon browsing the trade hardbacks, standing next to another customer. Simply having him in the store was like having a murderer in his midst. It was something he couldn’t ignore, and trying to do so felt like opening a void behind his ribs.

Looking around, no one had seemed to notice Marcus and him behaving strangely. With his heart still pounding, Alex took one last exhale. When he still didn’t talk, Marcus spoke up. “I’ll stick around and help watch this guy. Just in case.”

“You sure?” Alex asked. “No offense, but I’d rather you don’t.”

“None taken, but you’re still on the clock.”

“I know, I know.”

With the register occupied, Alex went back to walking the floor and arranging the shelves, glancing over at the werewolf again every so often. Beyond reading a few trades, he didn’t seem interested in things going on nearby. In the pit of his stomach however, Alex refused to believe that was all he was doing. With Marcus taking a lookout position near the door, he was hoping this guy would leave.

As the minutes, a total of twenty, ticked by, that was not the case. The werewolf moved around the store, only once stopping in a spot where no customers were close-by.

Eventually, with a few customers asking him for assistance, Alex had to break away from watching. They were looking for some older single issues, which thankfully, the werewolf had stepped away from. “I believe we may carry some of that series. Let me check.”

Pulling out the boxes of back issues, the scents of the paper flooding his nose, Alex found the issues they needed. As he kneeled there, the comics in hand, he now wished the store would empty a bit instead. That would give him a chance to approach this guy.

Checking his phone, it was just before 4:30. As he thought about it, if he waited, he’d probably lose his chance to do so. Either because of rush hour or the werewolf leaving. So long as he didn’t make a scene, as Marcus had said, he saw no reason to wait. He had to make sure this guy knew he was in charge.

Returning to the customers, comics in hand, they thanked him and let him get back to work. Looking over to Marcus, and seeing that he was chatting with Gwen, Alex saw an opening. He couldn’t blame his friend for trying to pass the time, but this was his chance.

He approached the werewolf, taking brief glances to be sure Marcus wasn’t looking. With every step, he felt his body shaking and pulling in underneath. As though this guy meant him immediate harm. When he finally stood nearby, his heart pounding, Alex leaned against the glass shelving.

“Can I help you?” The statement came out with no tremors in his voice.

“No. I’m fine.” The werewolf’s response was again neutral.

Unable to settle on an emotion, Alex tried to respond in kind. “So what are you doing here?”

This time, the werewolf looked him in the eyes. Alex felt his jaws tighten and his head lower a bit. “Enjoying myself. Unlike you it seems.”

“Keep it together.” Alex exhaled quickly. “Really?”

“What am I doing to you to get you so tense?” the werewolf asked.

The sudden question caught Alex off guard. Everything in him then screamed to be smart with this guy. Or give it to him straight. He was stalking his friends, and he knew it. Licking his teeth again, there were still no fangs.

Letting his gaze divert for a second, Alex checked on Marcus and Gwen. He had seen the two of them talking the last time he looked up, but this time, Marcus was coming his way. It was then that the werewolf looked in the same direction. Gripping his hands, Alex tried to keep calm.

“He’s a friend of yours?”

“Yeah.” That was all Alex managed to say before Marcus made it over.

“Hey,” Marcus began. He looked between Alex and the werewolf, with no odd tweaks in his expression. “Gwen needs a hand with a customer order. Can you help her?”

“Sure.” Taking another look at the werewolf, Alex stepped away. A few customers nearby had looked to see what was going on, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t gotten into a shouting match with this guy, nor started to shift. He had however missed his chance to assert his position.

Gwen had finished checking out a customer when he walked up. “What’s up?”

“Not much. You need a hand with something?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Looking back to Marcus, Alex sighed. He’d distracted him. “OK. Just checking.” As he went back to walking the floor, looking over towards his friend, Alex couldn’t help feeling a bit defeated. If temporarily. The distraction hadn’t lasted long. Trevor was nowhere nearby either.

Heading towards the trades shelves, he pretended to organize the books there. Looking over to Marcus again, who was standing at the rear of the store, Alex made his move and closed the gap on the werewolf. This time, he felt much calmer about it.

“I know what you’re doing.” Alex stated. Before the werewolf could answer, he continued. “You’re stalking friends of mine.”

The werewolf looked at him again. “What gave you that idea?”

Alex tapped his nose, but didn’t say anything. His attacker looked confused, but he wasn’t buying it. Taking a sniff, he couldn’t smell any scents beyond the werewolf’s own on him.

“Why would I stalk pack members?”

Hearing that sentence, Alex’s flesh rippled and his throat tightened. Stalking pack members? Was he thinking of turning his friends? Or his family? Feeling a growl reach his mouth, he tried to keep his voice down. “Don’t test me.”

The werewolf returned the growl; Alex shook and nearly stepped back in response. His pulse still racing, his limbs trembled and he dropped his head again. When he saw the werewolf’s eyes turned from green to amber, he felt his heart drop from his chest in fear. He wouldn’t shift here. Everyone would see him. He kept telling himself that, if only to calm himself.

“Don’t accuse me of things I haven’t done.”

Alex felt like someone wouldn’t let him speak, however much he wanted to. He couldn’t break eye contact either. He didn’t want this guy out of his sight. Not until he left the store. His eyes didn’t change back to green, however. In his head, Alex feared the same had happened to him.

Eventually, the stare was broken by the werewolf. Alex watched as he departed the store amidst a few customers staring at both of them, as if he was a dissatisfied customer. Swearing at himself, he tried to calm back down, opening the same pit behind his ribs. At least he had stayed composed enough to not shift.

Looking back at Marcus, he looked frustrated again, along with worried. A similar set of feelings that stuck with Alex until 6:30 came around. By then, he had relaxed enough to become outgoing with the arriving customers again, though not without a few odd looks from Gwen from time to time.

Thankfully, even after his shift was over, Trevor didn’t bring up the encounter. The game had long since ended, leaving Alex to believe he hadn’t gotten any word of it.

Despite that, Marcus was quick to start firing off questions at the first chance he had. “What did he say to you?”

“He said, ‘Why would I stalk pack members?’” Alex said.

Marcus took a second to contemplate what he’d heard, one eyebrow raising as he did. “So that guy thinks we’re like a wolf pack?”

“I guess so.”

“Why? You’re the only werewolf.”

Alex shook his head. “Marcus, if he tries to turn you, or Catherine, or Nathan…”

Marcus cut him off. “He didn’t say that, did he?”

“No, he didn’t.”

Neither of them spoke for a time. Alex couldn’t let go of the feeling that this guy was thinking of turning his friends. He had a feeling Marcus was thinking the same thing, if the look of terror in his eyes was any indication. Remembering that they had earlier plans to get some food, Alex brought the subject up. Hoping to give them a chance to think this over.

Ruckers was on the tail end of the rush hour crowd when they arrived, leaving only a few tables open for four people or less. With a glass in hand, he filled a drink for both himself and Marcus, returning to find him texting on his phone.

“Catherine wanted to know how the game went.” He said.

“I could hear you guys from time to time.” Alex said. “I should probably buy that game myself.”

“Well, you’re a Mage player, and it shows. D&D is a tactical game.” Marcus replied, matter-of-factually.

“I can tell.”

After the exchange, despite how uplifting it was, things became silent again for a time. Alex couldn’t bring himself to think more about the encounter, wanting to forget it for now.

When the silence was broken, it was because of Marcus. “Hey, mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What?”

“About what that guy said…Do you consider all of us a pack?”

“Uh,” Alex stopped to think about his reply. It wasn’t a trick question, but for some reason, it felt like one. “Not really. A pack has a hierarchy.”

“OK. Just asking.” Marcus said.

Pausing for a second, Alex took the initiative. His friend had asked that question for a reason. “Unless you’re saying it like I mean to defend you guys.”

“That’s the impression I’m getting.” Marcus said. The tone in his voice sounded neutral, or at least semi.

“Not that that’s a bad thing, I hope.” Alex said.

“No, it’s not.” Marcus said. “You did it again, though.”

“Backing off from him? I know and I wish I hadn’t.”

“I saw your eyes turn yellow too.” When his friend replied, Alex felt a chill run through his body. How close had he come to showing his fangs or claws? “That scared me.”

“I thought he was going to shift in the store, or something.” Alex said, trying to deflect what he thought was coming.

“He likely realized you were onto him.” Marcus said. “I mean, you said it straight up. You thought he was stalking us, and then he gets defensive about it.”

Although Alex agreed with his friend’s assessment, something still felt off. “Makes me glad Trevor didn’t notice.”

Marcus nodded at that statement with a “Mmm.”

Not long after, their meals arrived. Both fresh and hot cheeseburgers. While Marcus paused every so often to text, Alex stayed on his meal, thinking of it, and the good company of his friend, as rewards for not shifting at work.

Tuesday, October 4^th, 2011

Moon Phase – First Quarter

As he sat into his classes the next day, Catherine once again stopped by. Meeting her outside the classroom, she was quick to ask what had happened the day prior.

“He was acting like a customer, at least until I started talking to him.” Alex said. As he spoke to her, he kept his nose trained on any scents around her. Her fear scent wasn’t there.

“He said he wasn’t stalking us because we’re pack members?” Catherine asked, her tone rising halfway through in question.

Alex looked back to the door, dropping his voice in response. “As far as I could tell.”

“That’s rather weird.”

“You mean, makes no sense, right?”

“Or that, yeah.”

“Anyway, I tried to make sure he knew not to mess with us, but then I saw his eyes change. And I backed off from him.”

“Really backed off, or just a step?” Catherine asked.

“The latter.”

“Yeah, that sounds more like he startled you.”

“That’s what I thought too, but I don’t know.” Alex said.

It was then that Catherine changed the subject. “Nathan and I are having lunch on Wednesday. If you want, come talk to us.”

“Sure. Be glad to.”

After getting the time and place logged on his phone, Alex and Catherine parted ways. Class went by quickly after that, leaving him some time to practice at the Tampa park again.

Sliding out of a Backside Tailslide, now warmed up with practice, he stopped to attempt the Truckstand again.

Pulling the board past vertical again, he stood on the truck, balancing on the tail. The floor of the park was much smoother than the driveway, making him think his balance faltered for a second. Leaping from the truck, his fingers twisted the board back around, his feet landing off center and forcing him into a switch tailstop from his weight.

Taking a second to reposition, Alex ran through the trick in his head. He was close, but off somewhere. At the same time, he was getting thirsty. After the next attempt, he would take a break.

Repeating the motions, his board seemed to move a little easier this time, shifting from one hand to the next while he found a balance point. He held it for a second, and then leapt from the truck. Adding a slight backwards hop as his fingers twisted the board, Alex felt his left sole connect before the right. They both landed on the screws for the trucks, sticking him in place as he rolled forward an inch. The sounds of all four wheels clacking at once were the final sign that he had landed the trick.

With a single fist pump, Alex mouthed “Yeah” and went for a drink. The shop was still devoid of the younger customers but a few guys about his age were there. Taking a minute to talk to Walter, whose scent was splotched with a recent meal, he asked about how the demo was going to work. Hearing that there might be a competition as well, Alex felt a twinge of nervousness.

“I haven’t been in any competitions before.”

“Most skaters I know haven’t, so you’re not alone.” Walter said. Alex nodded at that, but the truth was he was already getting chills from the idea of having so many eyes on him.

“If you don’t mind my asking, when did this come up?”

“Last week. If the demo gets enough people to come, I’ll start planning for one.”

Alex breathed a silent sigh at that. “Great. I’m looking forward to it.”

As he took a few minutes more to relax in the park, seeing that the time was just after three in the afternoon, he thought to check his friend’ places of work again. With a gut feeling that this guy had shown up in at least one place since last time, he readied himself for it.

Starting with Catherine’s work, he followed the path to the right of the store first, and then the left. He found no trace of the scent in the air, but checked near the floor to be sure. Thinking he’d found it in one location, he crouched down and took a few sniffs. The scent wasn’t there.

Nathan’s place was next. Seeing his sedan as he drove up, he felt some apprehension about checking for scents with him around. He would have texted him if he’d seen the guy. He hoped at least.

“Hey. What’s up?” Nathan was busy checking out a customer at the time.

“Not much. Just stopping by for a bit.”

Starting from the PC section, Alex began from the bottom. He could smell the new print and inks from some of the new releases, as well as a number of human scents. Even a canine among them, which made his eyebrow raise.

With a game in hand, he followed the routines near a few other sections. No trace in the air again, and none in front of the sections he chose to check. An influx of new products in certain areas made picking out scents harder in those spots.

As he continued however, he felt his ears turning red a bit. As though Nathan was watching him. Turning to look, he saw him catch a glimpse of him, confirming his suspicions. Trying to shrug it off, he kept looking.

“Hey, Alex?” Nathan said as he replaced the game.

Looking over to his friend, he noticed the store had emptied. “Yeah?”

“Marcus mentioned that you guys ran into what’s-his-face again the other day.”

“Yeah, we did.” Alex paused. “Why? Did he show up here?”

“No, but I just remembered something about him.”

“Really? What?”

“The last time I saw him, which was like over a month ago, he seemed a bit down about something.” Alex averted his eyes to think about that. “I’m not sure what. It just looked like he was upset.”

Alex didn’t reply. Angela had died and he had been bitten around that same period of time. Checking his phone and the calendar again, the most killings were around that time as well. “If that’s true…” He paused.

“What? Something up?”

“Here. Take a look.” Alex held his phone out to display the calendar. “See how more animals died around then?”

“Yeah. You think he used that as an outlet or something? Killing them.”

“Possibly. I mean, he turned me and killed Angela around that time.”

“That would get someone upset. He is human, after all.”

“I don’t know, man.” Alex said, putting the phone away. “Something’s not adding up.”

After a few more minutes of walking the store, Alex left to head for his place of work. Waving as he did, he arrived at Blue Moon to find Trevor at the front counter. When he saw his boss, a shiver ran through his bones.

“Hey, you want to work some today?” Trevor asked.

Before Alex could reply, he saw his boss start to smirk. “Everyone’s here, but nice try.”

“Fair enough. Let me know if you change your mind.”

Nodding, Alex breathed a sigh of relief and started walking the store. With Marcus off shift, he maneuvered around his coworkers as he went. Stopping near Gwen in the board games, he almost checked her scent before pulling himself away.

Like the day before, the newer scents stood out among the rest. Fresh books and bindings, papers and comics. No scents like the aerosol can were around, letting him pick up a few new human scents. None of which matched the werewolf.

For a second near the trading card counter, he thought he noticed a scent similar to it. If he had, the scents of caffeine and open trading cards were masking it. Despite that, all three locations were in the clear. He hadn’t shown.