It had been a while since Laney had seen Alex. The first two of days the young wolf had thought nothing of it, figuring the woman had needed some alone time with all the people that were starting to come and go in their safe haven in the swamps. But the more time that passed, the more a really bad feeling started to creep into the pit of her stomach.
First of all, if she'd known she was gonna be gone this long, wouldn't she have taken her dog with her, or atleast asked someone to lok after it? After two days of not realizing that the poor thing hadn't had any food, Laney started making sure to give him some, and also make sure there was fresh water put out. On day three, the little wolf tried to use what little knowledge Ash had given her to try and track the hillbilly wolf down, but the trail was either cold, or so washed over with other scents, the young wolf couldn't pick it up.
By day number four she finally got nervous enough to make mention of it. She sent a mass text to just about everyone in her phone and if that wasn't enough, she left a copy of the text via note up on the fridge in their hideout.
Hey guys,
I'm getting kinda worried about Alex, I haven't seen her in about 4 days, and can't find her anywhere. I know I'm not as adept at looking as some, so anyone wanna help with a search party? I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.
The phone in his pocket buzzed with a message. He had gotten a cheap store brand charger so if the lady ever called back for her phone, he could get it to her. He flipped the phone open, and read the message.
Hunh. So she was really gone. He punched the button for reply, and typed a quick message back.
"I have her phone. Saw her a few days ago in the Hookah, and she dropped it. Said something about her brother before she stormed off. Seemed kind of pissed."
He hit send, and went about his business. Her friends deserved to know what he knew of her, and if they could help him find the brother who had attacked his friend, Zack, so much to the better.
Jessica had been staying busy, working extra hours at the hospital and then spending time with Milo. To be honest, she had hardly been paying much attention to the others that she'd been sharing the house with. It wasn't that unusual though, she had rarely gotten very close with wolves before so even though she was living with Ash and the girls she had more or less just given them their own space. Otis she had no choice in dealing with simply because of his ties with Milo but she had no issues in telling the Big Ol' Rat where to go when necessary.
The chiming sound of an incoming text to her phone had her searching out the correct device, frowning slightly at the message. Her fingers moved over the keys of her phone, responding with a text of her own.
'Haven't seen her but will keep eye out and check with others in town.'
This was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack but get enough shifters on it and she'd be found.
Silent was already on high alert...After hanging up..On whoever had been on the other side.Between the stress of that zach kid who still had yet to go to the hospital..Silent was about to take that choice from him and go see Jess about that issue..Now Alex's phone was in a strangers hand. Geller and his wolves were almost unreachable. Ash..Was..Busy.
Fuck.
Now this message,Silent would bang her head.Before texting her back.
"Havent seen her since the full moon.Call Ash."
Silent was already calling Sirus and Nyx.As well as Geller. If X really was here..And he had alex..This would be very very bad.
(Okay, so I owe stuff to a lot of people. So I am posting this same post in a few places cause it answers questions about where Ash has been and leads him into the current situation.The part of this directly related to this text will be highlighted in red. )
The kill had been clean. Easy enough once they tracked the man back into his nest. Almost boring actually in it's relative simplicity. Yet there had been a certain measure of excitement in having Llidya there with him. It had been a long time since they had hunted together. The last time she had been human and they had been partners in a case in Salem. Here, even though time had changed them both, there was still an effortless nature to their familiarity. They moved with one another like a well oiled machine. Even if that ease was only apparent when they were working. As for the rest of their engagements.....those were far more complicated.
After the full moon he had been called in on a job, a warrant and writ of execution handed over to him without restraint. He'd received the call while most of the others were still sleeping off the heightened frenzy of the full moons call. There had been a moment when Ash contemplated waking up Laney and taking her with him, but in the end he had decided against it. She had been training with him, but she was still so young, so new to violence, and he hated to throw her too quickly into that aspect of his life. Still, he left a note for her on the counter after packing his executioner's case.
Laney,
Gone on a job. Will find you when I get back. Take care of Alex. And yourself. When I get back we'll go shooting. Keep up with your training.
Ash
What had happened to the note from there he had no idea. In a house like theirs anything was possible. Nothing was sacred in a place where Milo Jones laid his head for the night. Laney might have been left behind under the guise of having her take care of Alex, but Llidya proved to be more difficult to leave behind. The look on her face as she confronted him leaving would not be ignored. So, they took her vehicle and left his behind for Laney to use. The keys were placed on the counter and as they left the swamps they contemplated the case and were lost for a time in their own business.
They'd tracked the prey to Baton Rouge where the Master Vampire went to roost with his kiss. From the moment they arrived in Atlanta until the moment the master's body was burned to ash and scattered he had not bothered much with his phone. He had his partner at his side and during the hunt he and Llidya exited in the moment, for him the Dark Passenger delighted in the thrill, and Llidya's cop mind kept his reveling to a minimum as they sought to track and kill all of the nest that scattered. Nights were filled with blood and screams and his days were spent in the company of this woman who had haunted his dreams for years. Time passed quickly, too quickly.
It wasn't until the job was done that he began reviewing his messages and slowly his face became col and serious. First were calls from Laney, Geller, and Silent.....it was hard to tell exactly what all of them were getting at but it had something to do with Alex. Then came a call from Alex herself letting him know that she was alright. Slim black brows furrowed on his forehead and even as he listened to the story play itself out over his phone he could hear Llidya in the next room, in the shower, and found himself at least slightly distracted by the memories that taunted him.
The messages were winding down and at some point he had risen from the bed and begun to slowly pace with the smooth lethal intent of a pure predator. The final message he reviewed as he heard Llidya turn the water off, moments later he could smell her scent as it mingled with the steam that exited the bathroom when she opened the door. Silent was now looking for Geller, and he was beginning to wonder if he should just put the whole bunch of them on a leash and attach them to his belt. They were losing one another at an astounding rate. Just as he was about to hang up on his voicemail a text message came through and made his phone vibrate in his hand. It was from someone nmed Dee Dee, a woman Ash was only peripherally familiar with from Geller's description, and once again it was about the disappearance of Geller.
With a sigh he looked back over his shoulder as Llidya came out of the bathroom, her clothes clinging in places to where her body was still wet, holding a towel that she used to dry the curls of her fiery red hair. Ash had parted his lips to say something as he'd turned his head but for a moment the words died on his lips and behind the silver shields of his fortitude he heard the lonesome howl of his beast both in recognition of the female wolf so close to them and making him aware of how long he'd been away. Finally, when he could tear his eyes off of every endearing inch of Llidya he spoke in that deep cultured voice.
"We have to go back. Someone's gone missing."
Though the messages he'd received had been frantic Ash sounded as calm as ever when delivering the news. He was a man used to disasters of the worst sort and a missing persons case, even when that missing person was a friend, did nothing to shake his unerring sense of decorum. Maybe it was a British thing (or possibly a sociopathic killer thing). Llidya didn't argue or ask him a million questions, she just nodded and went about the business of packing just as he did. Not that it would take them long. Neither of them traveled with much in the way of clothes, just the necessities, and most of their baggage was of the slaying variety. As Ash packed he calmly began to return peoples phone calls to let them know that he was on his way.
First, he called Alex since apparently she had been the first one to go missing. He had no idea yet if this was connected in some way, but no doubt she would be able to tell him. Her phone rang several times before she picked up with an exclamatory "Where the fuck have you been?" Ash figured that his note had been used as Milo's snot rag or something equally horrific and just gave Alex the bare bones facts in a cool collected voice.
"I received an out of town job. Llidya and I have been hunting. I got messages saying that you went missing and now apparently Geller is missing as well. Tell me what happened to you first....from the beginning."
Ash listened as Alex told him about Xavier, about how he had infected a human, kidnapped her, and was now food in her belly. He listened to the story as he sorted and packed his executioners bag, making sure all guns were cleaned, loaded, and had their safety on. There were some weapons in his possession that didn't fit in the bag, but those ould go in Llidya's Hummer last. When Alex finished he let out a smooth breath.
"Okay, here's what I want you to do. Have Laney take you to Silent. I'll call Laney as soon as we get off the phone. I want you to stay with Silent and explain everything to her. She'll be able to tell if eating your brother is going to have some kind of effect on the pack munin. Until you know that the pack could have some rough waters ahead." Xavier was one wolf that Ash would not want to have inside him even for a moment. Shifting the phone to his other shoulder he freed up his hands to work the zipper on the bag and sling it over his free shoulder.
"Stay with Silent and when I get this sorted I'll come to the Hookah to get you myself." After a long pause he added, "I promise."
That was it, hanging up the phone he was already redialing. Ash had long ago left off niceties like hello and goodbye, it was a cop thing, or maybe a killer thing, or just one of those things about him that people either hated or were forced to get used to. He was already dialing Laney as he picked up his small travel bag of clothes, shoes, and little bathroom necessities. Laney's phone rang and she answered with a very similar accusation as Alex, only hers was loaded with a dozen other choice words of the four letter variety.
"Laney calm down. We have a problem. I need you to do something for me." Alex could explain to Laney where he had been so he skipped over that part and got straight to business. "I need you to go to the swamps in and pick up Alex. Take her to Silent at the Hookah. She can explain everything to Silent when she gets there. I've already talked to her. I need you to leave Alex in Silent's care and then come meet me and Llidya at this address."
He wasn't sure that Laney had ever been there before so he gave her Geller's address making sure she had it written down exactly. The bags were loaded into the back of the Hummer and as he held the back open so Llidya could load hers in he watched the way she moved, so care free and seemingly unperturbed by the wild circumstances.
"We'll be there as soon as we can. Just tell people to calm down and not to go off half cocked. Keep them settled until we get there."
How Laney would manage that he had no idea. A pack of wolves could go wild and wooly in minutes if they took to a scent. For all he had heard at this point Geller could be anywhere, with anyone, the options were limitless. "We're in Baton Rouge, we'll drive fast."
As he hung up Ash looked across at Llidya as she was climbing behind the drivers seat. If anyone could make a Hummer push over 100 it was the woman in the drivers seat. He held up a finger to her and pointed towards the small motel office. He would check them out and she could meet him around front after loading the last of their supplies, the gear made for taking down the biggest and baddest of what they hunted. Heading towards the motel office he dialed Silent's number next and this time he got a voicemailbox.
"I got your message. Stay at the Hookah, I'm sending Alex to you. She needs her Ulfric right now. I'll find Geller. Nothing to worry about." He paused a long moment as he opened the door to the motel office and saw the weasly manager eyeing him over a back issue of Playboy. "Once Geller is safe I'll come to the Hookah. See you then."
It was as close to a goodbye as anyone had gotten from him. Hanging up the phone he went in to pay their bill and check them out. As he waited on the abusively slow clerk to do his work he sent off texts to the woman who had contacted him, Dee.
"This is Ash. Don't lose your head yet. Geller runs with a lot of different crowds, he's not like other wolves. Try not to get everyone worked up when we don't know anything yet. I'll be there soon."
No, Dee didn't know him directly, but if she was around the pack then she might know of him. And anyone with her who knew him might breath a sigh of relief and assure her that he knew what he was talking about. However he figured there was a snowballs chance in hell now of keeping people from freaking out since the text had gone out to lord knows how many civilian pack members. Taking a receipt from the man behind the counter he headed back outside to climb into the Hummer where it idled beside the curb. No sooner was his door closed than Llidya had put them in motion and he knew that it would only be a matter of hours before they were back in town.
Leaning back in his seat he lifted one foot and rested the flat of his boot against the dashboard. Llidya had waited patiently and now she got the story. As they headed through the darkness bound for New Orleans he told her everything that had happened, or what he knew about it anyway. They had time so he gave her the full dose. Each of them in their own way looked like death coming to town. Fresh from the kill they smelled of it, their eyes sang with it, and inside Ash could feel the Dark Passenger chase the beast away to exalt that they were already on another trail. Life was chaotic, but it sure was good.
