Chapter Fourteen

~ Remy ~

After talking to Cindy and convincing her to take the girls and Levi down to the swimming hole, I stayed glued to Vanya"s side, even when we were eating. I kind of had to.

Brad was watching me intently and every time I moved more than a few feet away from Vanya, he got up. I wasn"t sure if he was planning to go after me or walk away, but I wasn"t taking any chances.

Brad was a threat, plain and simple.

I didn"t know what he thought he was going to do with Vanya around, but the guy was stupid. Even after Vanya put him on the ground he seemed to think he was big and bad. He wasn"t, but he was bigger than me, and that might be a problem.

I didn"t like the idea of having my head handed to me and I was very afraid that was exactly what would happen if Brad ever got his hands on me. I really didn"t want to think what else he might want to do to me.

The man was a sick freak.

Knowing it was time, I nudged Cindy.

She shot me a quick frown before plastering a smile on her face and glancing at the other two girls. "Let"s get our swim suits on and go down to the swimming hole, just us girls. We"ll let the boys stay up here and clean up this mess."

Margot, who had been fuming since she came on the scene, huffed. "It"s about time they did something."

I tucked in my lips as Cindy, Margot, and Olivia got up and went to their individual cabins. I knew why Margot was so upset. Her boyfriend wasn"t paying any attention to her and she was used to being treated like a princess. It probably rankled something fierce.

"Levi, can you go with them and keep an eye on them?" Vanya asked. "They deserve some girl time, but these woods can be dangerous. I wouldn"t want anything to happen to them."

"I thought we were supposed to be cleaning up?" Levi questioned.

"We can clean up this mess," I added. "You should go before the girls get lost."

Levi shrugged, got up, and walked toward the swimming hole trail. He waited at the edge of the trail for the girls. When they came out of their cabins and joined him, he followed after them.

I waited until they disappeared into the trees before getting up, grabbing all the dishes I could reach, and then carrying them into the kitchen inside the commons building. Akio and Yeri brought in the rest. Between the three of us we got the dishes washed and the remaining food put away.

I was drying my hands on a dishtowel when I heard yelling from outside. I had a pretty good idea what was going on, but I went running outside anyway.

Yeah, I was right. Brad was face to face with Vanya. Spittle flew from his lips as he shouted at him. For Vanya"s point, he just stood there, arms crossed, and let the man rage.

It took me a moment to figure out what Brad was going on about. When I did, I rolled my eyes in exasperation. When would this guy ever learn?

"You have two choices here, Brad," Vanya finally said. "Either sit down and shut up so we can get this meeting started or start walking. But be warned, if you leave, you will not be welcome back."

"You can"t tell me what to do!"

"Since you don"t want to listen, I suggest you start walking." Vanya pointed toward the end of the camp. "The nearest town is about a hundred miles that way. You"d better get going while you still have daylight left."

Brad reared back as if he hadn"t been expecting that response, which was stupid. Vanya had just stated it. "You can"t make me leave. I have a right to be here just like everyone else."

"You"re right," Vanya started. "I can"t make you leave, but I can make you leave my property. My family owns two-thousand acres of this mountain. That"s about three square miles that I own, and I can kick you off of that if I want to, and believe me, I want to." Vanya pointed again. "Town is that way."

Didn"t we already have this discussion?

Akio stepped over to stand next to Vanya. His arms crossed much like Vanya and he even had a scowl on his face. It wasn"t as impressive as Vanya"s, but it would do.

"Look," Akio said, "I"m getting real tired of having this discussion over and over again, as I am sure the rest of us are. Personally, I want to hear what Vanya has to say."

I started clapping until Vanya shot me a quick glare.

"Everyone standing here right now knows that something happened to us the other night," Akio continued. "Instead of having a dick measuring contest, I"d like to figure out what happened and how it"s going to affect the rest of my god damn life. So shut the fuck up or I"ll find the biggest roll of duct tape around here and shut your mouth for you."

My eyebrows lifted with each word Akio spoke. The threat of duct tape made my mouth drop open. I didn"t know Akio had it in him. He was always so quiet.

I felt like clapping again, but the stern look Vanya had given me kept me from doing it. He was probably right. Now was not the time.

Vanya sighed before dropping his arms, looking just a hair less threatening. "We"ve already figured out that those affected by the meteor—"

"Meteor?" Brad asked. "Was that what that green glowing thing was?"

Vanya nodded. "We believe so."

"So, you think a meteor did this to us?" Brad asked.

"As far as we can determine," Vanya said. "It"s the only thing we all experienced."

Brad was silent for once.

"We know it"s made us stronger and faster," Vanya continued. "We have better eyesight, better sense of smell, and better hearing. We can also turn furry. What we need to do now is decide what we are going to do about it."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Look, I don"t know if this...this transformation is temporary, if it will fade after awhile, or if it"s permanent. What I do know is that the second someone in authority gets wind of what we are, we"re science experiments. I don"t intend to end up that way, even if this is permanent."

The silence was heavy.

I glanced at Vanya as I started talking, watching for his reaction. "Until we know if this is permanent or not, I think staying away from the public is the safest thing for us."

"We"re only supposed to be up here for a week, Remy," Akio said. "People are going to wonder what happened to us if we disappear. They might come looking for us."

"I actually have a plan for that." It just came to me. "I"m going to head back to school, pack my stuff, and withdraw for the term."

"And if people ask you why you are dropping out?"

"If anyone asks me where I am going, I"ll just tell them that I am taking the spring and summer terms off to tour Europe or something."

"Tell them you"re going with your boyfriend," Vanya stated.

I grinned—ignoring the slight growl that came from Brad—and leaned into Vanya. "I can do that."

"Maybe we should tell everyone we"re all going on tour," Yeri said. "I know my dad would pitch a fit if he knew I was going by myself. If he thought I was with Vanya and a bunch of friends, he"d worry a lot less."

"He"s still going to be pissed that you"re dropping out of school," Vanya pointed out.

"You have a better idea?" Yeri asked.

"No, but that doesn"t change the fact that Dad is going to be pissed."

Yeri"s eyes rolled. "Well, if this turns out to be permanent, we"ll have to tell him. I"m sure he"d understand."

Vanya snorted. "You wish."

"My parents won"t care," I stated. "As long as I don"t bother them, they don"t really care what I do."

Vanya frowned as he glanced down at me.

"No, no," I said quickly. "Don"t get me wrong. My parents love me, but they are so into their research that they sometimes forget that they even have a kid." I shrugged. "I was an oops baby."

"An oops baby?"

"Yeah, I"ve always had the impression that my parents never wanted kids, but they were pressured by my grandparents, so they both got drunk one night, and I popped out nine months later. A nanny was hired before I even left the hospital and they went back to their research."

"What on earth are they researching that could make them forget about their kid?" Vanya asked.

"My father is an archeologist and my mother is an anthropologist. They met on a dig in Greece and have been researching Greek mythology ever since."

They had been disappointed in me when I went into medicine instead of archeology, which was weird. What parents didn"t want their kid to be a doctor?

Still, I was also pretty sure if I called my parents and asked them to fund my little "tour of Europe" I could get some money out of them and I knew we would need it. There weren"t enough supplies to last a long extended stay here. We"d need more.

"At the end of the week," I said, "we should all make a trip back to campus so we can pack and do what we need to do. I know Yeri needs to return his rental car. For those that are coming back here, we need to figure out how to get here."

"Hudson and I both have king cab trucks," Vanya stated. "I think we"ll fit."

"What are we going to do about the girls?" Charlie asked. "They are going to know something is up if we go back to school and instantly drop out."

"Levi wasn"t affected, so I"m sure Olivia will stay back at school with him." I glanced at Brad. "What about Margot?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"She is your girlfriend," I pointed out. I snickered when Brad rolled his eyes. "Does everyone feel that they can handle going back to campus long enough to get their stuff?" It would be really bad if one of us turned furry while at the university.

"I"d prefer to stay here," Carmine stated. "I can give Charlie my key. He can pack my stuff for me."

"Don"t you need to withdraw from this term?" I asked.

Carmine shrugged. "They"ll figure it out when I don"t show up for class."

True, but I didn"t think that was the way to go about this. It was better if people thought we had left school on our own, not gone missing. On the other hand, if Carmine didn"t feel secure in going back to the campus, no one should force him.

"I"ll give you guys some time to think about it because this is a big decision," Vanya said. "If you decide to stay, you can stay in the cabin you are currently in, but you will be expected to help out around the campground. If we"re going to be here long term, there are some things that need to be done with the place."

"What sort of things?" Charlie asked.

"Well, Hudson and I have been updating the cabins little by little. So far, we have indoor bathrooms in two of them. We"d like to get bathrooms in the other cabins. We"re also working on solar power for each cabin and the common areas. I don"t know about you all, I kind of like modern conveniences."

"Any chance you"re going to put in internet?" Charlie asked.

"We"re too far from the city," Vanya replied. "The best we can do is satellite internet."

"Is it reliable?"

Vanya shrugged. "For the most part."

Charlie raised his hand. "If I can have internet and an indoor bathroom, I"m in."

"So, everyone is agreement then?" I asked. "We"ll head back to school in a couple of days and withdraw from this term? Once we figure out what we are dealing with and whether this is permanent or not, we can go back. We just need to know what we are dealing with before some scientist somewhere gets itchy Petri dishes."

Vanya leaned over to whisper in my ear. "You"re staying, right?"

I smiled up at the man I never thought I"d have. "I"m staying."

I"d stay wherever he was.