Elvira quietly walked into the office to retrieve the notebook left under the table and to make sure no one was around to see her do that. She first needed to be in the bunker to disconnect her hidden cameras.
She has been using them to spy on her father. Watching his moves as he made deals upon deals with the other gangs who later became her enemies. She is the type that quickly makes enemies and that has been her way.
She reached under the table not minding what comes next.
"Where is this damn note!" She rummaged again and got nothing from the mahogany table but then a red bike meandered into the corner and she heard a significant knock on the wall. It's a sign to tell her it's time and they need to go.
"Shout it out, Andrea. I have not even seen the damn book."
She knew he couldn't hear her. She has disconnected the headphone connecting her to him. She reached down again, her fingers touched a bag. She yanked it out. It's a jade green leather backpack with dust over it.
"It should be here. Poppy is a mad man. I think sometimes I need to figure out his antics."
Andrea stumbled in laughing. His boots are tinted with mud and he looks larger than he was when he aimed the gun at Alex Guero.
"Be fast, Elvira, and your hair needs to be pulled back. They are getting in your way."
"Don't start foolish Andrea. Can't find the note. Hope it's in this bag.
"Sure. Let's leave. Alpha might be here soon. You've got a score with him."
"Not anymore."
"Are you saying that now?"
"Yeah. And for real I'm so saying that. He's got nothing but a big mouth."
Andrea laughed. "We need to get out of here."
***
"You don't know?" Alpha asked.
"I only listened to what they were saying. That's all I know."
Damien and the other members of the pack walked in holding clubs and smiling sheepishly. Perhaps they just finished another game. Emmaus throttles back glancing at the floor, hoping it swallows him.
"Damien, he's saying he doesn't know. Look at this scumbag."
His wolf form wants to come out again but he suppressed it because he doesn't want to get angry over Elvira's prank and because he has started having feelings for her. He hopes they'll let him go.
"Tell them what you told me, Emmaus. Tell them."
He stood up and moved forward. His tattered shirt bore some blood and he stinks of rum.
"I said tell them." Aiden pulled out his rifle.
Damien rushed to his side knowing he'll do it if he didn't get to him faster. Emmaus has been their bartender and he doubles as a gardener who helps tend to Aiden's collections of herbs
"I was at the bar along the road two days ago and I met a hooded man with a husky voice. He was alone. Like alone to do something strange. I sat closer to him. He pulled out a pistol and held it to my stomach.."
He dropped down crying. The others were stern and waiting for him to get to the point.
"I said tell them," Aiden shouted again
" He gave me money," he cries.
"And I told him Alpha wants Smallsvile for himself and that he wants all the humans dead."
"Where did you get that?" Damien said, unnerving his anger. He gets really angry too and when he does, nothing can stop him from spilling blood.
"You told him that? You dungshit! I told you to stop drinking rum. You let it get in your head. Look at what you did. It's all over the streets. I saw them this morning not knowing you fueled the propaganda."
"I am sorry…"
"Shut up, man. Shut up." Damien grabs his chin and pulls him up. He's taller than him and he got to be taller than Alpha because he swims more. That was what he was told when he ran into the new doctor last month at the hospital. He'd been captured by the Damin gang, beaten, and thrown in the lake because of The Note. He was the first to have seen the old woman in the bower read from its pages in a dark room on the outskirts of Smallville. The book was different but then he had forgotten about it until now.
"Damien dropped him," Aiden said. " We need to work out a plan. That girl is involved in this. He said he saw her with them."
"For real?"
"Yeah. I know what to do. Get him out of here, Charles."
***
The bower.
"Bring him in, gently. Don't break his bones. The blue candles from the broken realms are here to serve you. Bring him in, gently."
The section of the walls with some shallow light and shadows was embedded with a portrait of a creature from Norse mythology. The man wearing a dark hood could recognize it. He stared at it as the wrinkles on the old woman's face strengthened and her voice resonated with the echoes in the chamber. The woman standing beside him and draped in baubles looking plush glanced at the hound behind a metal-barred cell door. It still sniffs at something in the ground. The light fell back on the old woman like an avalanche. She shrews at a pelt burning in the fire before it wilted out.
"I know he's not dead. Thanks for bringing him back, Martin. With the Norse, there were alternative terms such as ulfhéðinn ("one in wolf-skin". That refers to what is about to befall us. Humans and werewolves will run into chaos. They will fall."
"Nina did her part. She sensed it first."
"Feminine wiles and lores." The old woman snarled. "You should have let him die in his hands. But now it's good he didn't die. I'll let you know why soon."
"Let's see the face first or what do you think, Nina?"
"That will be good."
The hound barked and some bats flew around in the bower. The old woman called out.
"Fools, come back here. It's not twilight yet." She snarled again, donning her head forward to open the covering guiding his face. She opened it and stood there searching for what to say next. The candles flicker.
"I apologize," she said. "This is a dead man."
"What! Didn't you make sure it was him in the bag, Nina?"
"I did my best. Perhaps we should ask Christy what happened after I left her with the bag."
"Damn! Christy Dawson? What happened?"
Martin said, digging his hands into his hair. He paces around hoping to reach a logical explanation of what happened. He moved closer to have a proper look, the face was smashed into the temporal lobe and the blood has stopped clotting.
"What a cad." He whimpers.
"Half-finished tapestry and a deep brown tea. Go get his notebook." The old woman shrews mirthlessly at her hound.
***
Guero's fortress
103, Hill Road, Smallsvile
I got back home tired and discovered that the gateman was gone and that the sad note on the window panes was gone too.
What is happening?
I need to get to that notebook first. Perhaps that will help me understand all these. I just saw my dead father wheeled away before me in a van with a sign I saw in his notebook.
I hope I still find the mahogany workspace and the files and the laptop too to dig deeper into things. I need to ask more questions.
What's happening?
And where is Elvira? She could be of help to unravel this. She could help me gain a better understanding of my dad. Or do I need to look for the man I kicked into the gutter?
I don't even think I'll recognize his face again. What if he wants revenge? What if he is the one revenging now?
I threw out my shoes and decided I might never dress like Elvira again. I should be myself. I hope I don't have her attitude. I need to be real to figure out this mess. Now, dad is gone. I need to call my friend.
The office wasn't like I left it. I already know something happened here but where is the man calling me?
Where are the files on this table? And where is Sam?
I don't even know him that well. I need to find an answer to all these. Why did they kill him and took his body with them?
Aiden must die. He's behind this.
I rummaged into the remaining files scattered around to see if I could find the note. I knew I saw some words scribbled beside the sign. I just never thought about it that much. The leadership role got in my head.
The note is gone and the register too. Who took them?
This Alpha means business.
I heard voices coming from the gate then quickly I looked out the window. He's coming again, this time with more of his kind. I need to get a rifle.
More people need to die.