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What is friendship worth? |
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Chapter One I glowered out of the darkness of the alley at the people swarming the sidewalk. I hoped to god that there were not this many people at night. That would make my job a hell of a lot harder. People tend to frown upon kidnapping and/or killing. But knowing Jack, he had already taken that into account when he had planned this. He also knew I hated staking out places. I growled and leaned up against the brick wall. The building across the street was the intended victim, or should I say the intended victim supposable living in the building. I shrugged to myself. I reached behind my head and pulled the hood of my jacket over my spiky black hair and it hid the slightly tapered points of my ears. Nothing to bad that would freak people out, just enough for a few stares and that was something that I didn’t need. I also pulled out a pair of sunglasses that would hide my shiny bright golden eyes. Yes, I did say golden. Not yellow like a sunflower, but gold like a coin. If my ears didn’t make people pause, my eyes would When I stepped out of the alley I looked like a hoodlum, but it was better than what I would look normally. Now, I’m not a big guy… actually I’m pretty short. Jack is always ribbing me about it. “You’re suffering from short man syndrome Trace. It’s normal for men of your stature.” Jack lips spread in a wide smirk, something that raised my hackles. I flipped him the bird and huffed. “And your point is?” I snipped. That only made Jack’s smirk turn into a wicked smile. “No point really, just stating a fact.” After four years of friendship I was used to his sense of humor. It didn’t bother me anymore. Well, not as much. Anyways, back to my lack of height. I couldn’t see over the people moving on the sidewalk and I couldn’t pull out any creature feature moves, like the fact that I can climb walls and jump to the top of a building in a single bound. I remember once I had to carry Jack up a wall to make an escape and he was humming the tune from Spiderman. I shook my head and shoved my way through the people. Some were actually smart enough to go around be before I knocked over. I reached the curb and frowned up at the building. Jack had provided an article of clothing with our target’s scent on it. It was a thick gamey scent and my nose wrinkled up at the remembrance of it. Skinwalkers never did smell too good, more like road kill. Animal sacrifice did that to ya. Also wearing said dead animals did that as well. I took a deep breath and sucked the pollution clogged air into my lungs. Good ole’ carcinogens. Along with the cancer causing particles I tasted the Skinwalker’s scent. I gagged and shuddered. My hand rose and rubbed across my nose and mouth, that was rank. Dead animal can’t be good for the sinuses. Jack told me it was a woman, a pale red haired woman with green eyes. I scanned the crowd; she couldn’t be that far away if her scent was that strong. At least I hoped not, cause then I would hate to get a whiff of her up close. That would have me spewing up my lunch of chicken and beef fajitas. I spotted a flaming head of hair disappearing into the brick building that I had been keeping an eye on. After she left my sight the smell slowly dissipated and I was relieved. I made an about face and once again shoved my way through the mesh of warm soft bodies. When I reached the alley Jack was there, leaning against the wall. His shiny brown hair squished beneath a black baseball cap that had ‘Loser’ stitched across it in red thread. His face was pale and shadowed beneath the bill. “Jack?” I had the pleasure of seeing him jolt awake. His eyes snapped open to reveal pale blue with an irritated tint to them. I grinned at him and watched the irritation grow. “It’s not my fault that you’re a bum. If you would have been paying attention then I couldn’t have snuck up on you. You have no one to blame but yourself.” He bared his teeth at me in something that resembled a smile, or maybe a grimace. “You see her?” Right to the point as always. I sighed heavily like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. “Yes, massa, I saw her.” Jack snorted at my impression. “Oh yes, I’m quite the slave driver, you poor over worked thing.” Jack said and I grinned at him. “Now you got it, and this poor over worked thing is hungry. Let’s go get something to eat.” Jack’s eyes narrowed and he gave me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes. “What?” He studied me for a moment, and then shook his head. “Nothing, let’s get something to eat.” Now I’m like any warm blooded American man, the term ‘man’ being loosely used because of my not being human, but you get the idea. Back to the warm blooded American man thing, like them I liked my food immensely, and in great quantities. It was great fun for me watching Jack pay the bill, the look on his face being priceless. Well, priceless to me anyway. Jack hated to part with money, must have been his living on the street as a kid making him very appreciative of the dollar bill. It was Jack’s stingy nature that had found us a little bar/grill where I could eat without breaking the bank or Jack’s wallet. The place was called Pechaud’s and it was a long walk from where we were. Jack suffered the walk without complaint, but I complained the whole entire way. We arrived at Pechaud’s just as dusk fell and I gratefully shoved open the heavy wooden front door. The air conditioning was heaven, the sweat on the back of my neck cooling in seconds. The owner/bartender/whatever stood behind the bar and was reading a magazine. He glanced up when the door opened and grinned at us, his snakebite piercings winking in the light overhead. Ruen was always happy to see us, probably because we ate at least one meal here a day. His wide chocolate brown eyes studied Jack behind me and then shifted to me. “What did you do to him now Trace?” Ruen’s voice was smooth and warm. His hair was maroon and his skin was the color of coffee with only a little cream. When I first met him I wondered what race he was, but now I didn’t care. Ruen was Ruen. “What do you mean?” I asked as I dropped down onto the stool in front of Ruen. Ruen pulled a carton of chocolate milk from the fridge and poured me a glass. He set it in front of me and then leaned on the counter. I noticed that he had a silver ring on his right index finger. It was bright against his dark skin. “Why does he look like you just punched him in the gut?” I glanced back at Jack. He did look like I just punched him. I turned back to Ruen as Jack slid onto the stool beside me. “He always looks like that when he has to spend money.” Jack shot me a dirt look but kept silent. He knew I was right. Ruen just shook his head. “What can I get you?” Ruen asked this question every time we came in here and the answer was always the same, at least from me. I never deviated from my norm of a double cheese burger with onion rings with sweet and sour sauce poured over them. “The usual.” I said. Ruen turned to Jack and Jack grimaced. “I will have the same, just without the sauce. Thank you Ruen.” Ruen turned and disappeared into the kitchen. While we waited people started trickling in. Some sat at the bar farther down from us, others took their seats at the twelve tables scattered over the hard wood floor. I glanced around the room and took in the familiar furnishings, the dark brown walls, and the framed pictures on the wall. Ruen interrupted my musings by placing my food in front of me. I looked down at the plate, then back up at Ruen. “Thanks. So how is the band doing? Ruen was the singer/guitarist in a local band by the name of Nocturnal Hide. They were good, I liked them but Jack didn’t. Jack didn’t like to listen to music. Weird for a teenager, but Jack never was normal. “They’re doing fine, staying out of trouble at least. That’s all I can hope for.” Ruen said, then glanced down the bar and spotted someone trying to get his attention. “I’ll be back.” He went off to serve the customer. While I had been chatting with Ruen, Jack had already started in on his burger and was eating with mechanical slowness. I snorted. “Jeez Jack, don’t look so enthused.” Jack spared me a glance then went back to his food. Friggin’ weirdo. But I guess that’s the pot calling the kettle black. I picked up my own mass of cow meat and took a bite. Grease slipped down my chin and I wiped it away absently. I glanced towards Ruen. He was still helping a customer. “Jack, do you think Ruen knows anything?” I kept my voice low. Jack tilted his towards me and shrugged. “Why would he?” I stared at him in disbelief. “Ruen knows everything that goes down in a fifty mile radius.” Jack shook his head at me. “What I meant was why would he know anything about the skinwalker, he’s not like us.” I snorted. “Bull.” He raised an eyebrow. “Oh come on, he knows what’s up.” “I disagree, he may look like a freak but I think he is as normal as any other human.” I snickered when he said that. While my shoulders shook with laughter Ruen had returned. He tucked some maroon hair behind an ear that had three studs in it and he watched me laugh. “Care to share the joke?” He asked and I shook my head. “Trust me; it’s really not that funny.” I took a bite of my burger and stared at Ruen. I waited for him to tell me to knock it off, but he patiently endured my gaze. I swallowed. “All right, I got a question for you.” I wiped the grease off my hands with a napkin and leaned forward. “Do you know what a skinwalker is?” Ruen stared at me for a moment and then a grin cracked his face. “Why?” “It pertains to another question.” His warm eyes studied me and he sucked the lip ring on the right side of his bottom lip into his mouth. “I know what it is.” Ruen said. Ok, that was easy enough, now for the real test, I thought. “Alright, but have you heard of any in the city lately or anything that might indicate of one?” I was not an expert on shape shifters, but it was common knowledge that they tended to flock together. Like how werewolves had packs. I wondered if skinwalkers had packs too. Ruen blinked slowly and his brow scrunched up. “No, but I can ask around if you want me to.” I really expected him to start laughing, or look at me with disbelief. “Thanks, I appreciate it. Let me give you my cell number in case you do learn anything, ‘kay?” He nodded as I scribbled down my number on a clean paper napkin. “Yep, will do. We are playing this weekend at the Red Room, I’d like it if you came and watched.” “We will.” I said before taking another bite of my burger. Ruen slid his eyes from me to Jack and then back. “Come by yourself if you want.” He said then smacked the top of the bar with his hand. “Well, I have to go do my job before the boss docks my pay.” I snorted at that, it’s kind of hard for the boss to dock your pay if you are the boss. He walked around the counter and when he passed me he patted me on the back. I waved over my head and then focused completely on my food. I didn’t notice that Jack had been following our conversation until I heard him make a chocking noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “What?” I hissed at him. “He was flirting with you.” “Seriously?” Jack did appear to be serious. “I know I’m a stud and everything, but Ruen?” I took a gulp of the chocolate milk that I had been neglecting. It weighed heavily in my stomach and I stared at my half eaten burger glumly. Jack’s observant eyes took this in. “What, does it creep you out?” “No,” I snapped “It doesn’t creep me out.” When I didn’t elaborate Jack just rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He said, but I didn’t hear him. I concentrated on finishing my food, it was against my nature to let it go to waste. |
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