29. Rory

CHAPTER 29

RORY

I checked my phone on the journey across town. Matt had sent me an update. He and Nic had hacked into some radio feed for the police department investigating what happened the night before.

There was good news but also bad news.

The good news was that Missy and her partner in crime were arrested and taken into custody almost immediately. There was so much evidence tying them both to the crime, not to mention the gun and the car in their possession were both stolen. It was unclear exactly which charges the local police would get to stick, but they were going to be put away for many years, which was all that I really cared about.

The bad news was that whoever was supposed to meet Missy at the school must’ve been tipped off that something was wrong because they never showed. Neither Cornelius nor the cops were able to learn anything else about the buyer, and this seemed to have everyone back at the house on edge. Cornelius’s sister wasn’t even there yet, and already things were starting to spell out dread. I picked up my pace and ran the rest of the way home, arriving just as Cornelius walked out of the front door.

“Rory!” He said, alarmed. “I didn’t expect to see you. Nic thought you skipped town, and Matt said you never answered any of his calls or messages.”

“I’ve been busy.” I looked around. So far, all was pretty quiet. “Is your sister here yet?”

“No. But she called half an hour ago and said she wasn’t far.” He cleared his throat. “I just stepped out for some air. Things have been a little… tense.”

“I can only imagine. Are you all prepping for a battle or what?”

“They are. I’m not.”

“Hmm.” I put my hands in my pockets, trying my best to remain calm. At this point, nothing good would come out of getting into it with Cornelius.

“You know, I wouldn’t have blamed you for leaving,” he said. “In fact, I’m glad Nic got to you when she did so that you had the choice to get the hell out of here. Calling my sister—it was just something I had to do, but I truly never wanted to put any of you in a tough spot.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You’re mad. I get that. But there’s still time to leave if you want to. I’ve chosen to put my trust in my sister, but I’m not asking you to do the same.”

“Good. Because I don’t trust her. I don’t trust any of them.”

“Then why did you come back?”

I looked at him with an icy stare. “Why do you think?” Before he could answer, I shouldered past him and went inside. Nic and Matt were in the kitchen, and both of them started when I entered. Nic sighed with relief when she saw it was just me coming in.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“Happy to see you as well,” I joked.

“When I didn’t hear from you,” Matt said, a confused expression dancing across his face. “I just assumed you took Nic’s advice and left.”

“Where’s Daphne?”

“She’s safe. I would rather not say anything more than that—in case someone is in earshot. Has he told you anything else about his conversation with her? How can he be so sure that she’s going to come alone?”

Matt and Nic shared a look.

“We’re just as in the dark as you are,” she said after a few seconds. “But that doesn’t mean we’re walking into this empty-handed. I hid weapons all over the house, and we know our escape route if it comes to that.”

I nodded and took a seat at the kitchen table. “Alright then—what’s the game plan if things go south?”

Nic smiled excitedly. “I’m so glad you asked.”

Simone looked well enough, all things considered.

She was obviously tired from the journey, and she held herself very stiffly as we all sat together in the living room—saying nothing. Perhaps if Cornelius wasn’t such an awkward individual to begin with, he would’ve been able to facilitate the start of this conversation. But he was more comfortable sitting in silence. He always was.

The only thing that eased my worries in the slightest was the fact that Simone was still quite small in stature. If she was going to launch an attack on the four of us, she stood no chance.

Unless there were others lurking nearby.

Eventually, Matt did the honors of breaking the tension by clearing his throat and sitting up straight on the couch next to me. “So, Simone… Um, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s really good to see all of you,” she said. To her credit, she sounded genuine.

“Er—um,” Matt stumbled on. “Before we really talk about anything going on at the compound or what happened out here with our friend who was kidnapped, there’s something I wanted to just get out in the open.”

“Go ahead.”

“I hope you don’t find this question offensive in any way, but you didn’t bring any, like, backup with you today… right?”

Simone frowned, and when she did, she looked eerily like her brother. “Backup?”

“Is there anyone waiting in the woods outside to attack us?” Nic rephrased the question. I was glad she was the one to do this because I knew Cornelius already saw me as the most antagonistic of the group. “Do we need to be worried about pack members trying to drag us back to the compound, or can we speak openly and freely with you?”

She looked to Cornelius. “I told you it was just me coming.”

“I know. They just have trust issues. You can’t exactly blame them.”

She paused for a second, then nodded. “No, I guess I can’t. It makes sense that you would be cautious. The last time any of you saw me, I was a kid. I did think it was a little too easy when Cornelius said that I could come for a visit.” She laughed softly. “There was a moment in which I wondered whether or not I was about to walk into an ambush of some kind. But I didn’t think my brother would do something like that.”

“Never,” Cornelius confirmed.

“And I appreciate that the rest of you are giving me enough grace to sit here and explain a little bit about what’s been going on at the compound. To answer your question, no, I didn’t bring anyone with me. You're welcome to search my car or whatever if that makes you feel better.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said her brother.

I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I kept my mouth shut.

“Okay then,” said Matt. “Tell us what’s been going on down south.”

“I don’t even know where to start… I’ve been scared for a while now, worried about the safety of the pack, but when Cornelius told me about this black market situation…” She trailed off.

“What has you so worried?” I asked.

“Everything.” She smirked. “The pack’s numbers are way down. A lot of people have left over the years, and the leaders are getting more zealous each day. Which in turn leads to more people leaving, and so on and so forth. It’s a vicious cycle. There are talks amongst leadership of actually launching an attack on the nearby town, trying to take over more land and assert our dominance over humans. Every time I—or anyone else for that matter—point out that we need to be working to protect the pack instead of looking for a fight, they snap at them. They even threw someone off the compound for suggesting that we leave the humans alone and focus on recruiting new members instead.”

“Have they really grown so dense?” I shook my head. “They have to realize how vulnerable they are with so few members.”

“I don’t know… Everyone who is left, besides myself and a couple of outliers, are the ones who really believed the wolf supremacy message from the beginning. They’re all nuts, and the more insulated they become, the more invincible they start to feel. They’re in this echo chamber of their own creation, and it’s making them feel untouchable. Never mind the fact that wolf hunters are crawling around all over the South, and now apparently there’s some rare-creature collector out there looking for cryptids to put on display.” She exhaled heavily. “If something doesn’t change soon, we’re fucked.”

“So why haven’t you left?”

Simone didn’t answer right away. After a few seconds, however, she met my gaze and responded. “I understand why the four of you left. I really do. I’ve never blamed you for leaving the compound, and I knew you would’ve taken me and the other little ones along if you could’ve. But in the end, we were left behind, and someone had to take responsibility for making sure the younger generations in the pack didn’t receive the same psychotic indoctrination that we were given. I did what I could, with some help from a few other sympathetic adults who were still around at the time, but you know how vulnerable children are… There was only so much I could do.”

“You’re saying some of the younger kids are starting to become zealots, too?” Cornelius said, eyes wide with alarm.

“I’m afraid so. Say what you want about the leaders, but they are convincing. And I knew if I left the compound, the few kids who had followed in my footsteps would be lost to the fray. They would have the peacefulness beaten out of them and would have no choice but to conform. I couldn’t let that happen. Even coming here is a huge risk. If the leaders found out… I don’t even want to think about what would happen. I would be cast out for sure. Maybe even worse.”

“Can I ask then… Why did you come? And why now?” I tried my best to make the question sound less accusatory, and thankfully, it seemed like Simone took it that way.

She smiled. “Because I’m tired of biting my tongue and waiting for the day that the pack leaders really do take things too far. They are going to get us all killed, and I’m not interested in just standing by and watching as they destroy everything and everyone I care about.” She hiccupped with emotion but kept talking. “When I was younger, I hid behind the excuse that I was small and inexperienced. But I’m not going to do that anymore. I want to strengthen the pack, push back against the rhetoric that was shoved down our throats, and actually make the compound a nice place to live. I can’t do it alone, though. I need your help.”

Matt, Nic, and I all shared a look. None of us were surprised she said this, but it would seem none of us had a planned response. Well, except Cornelius.

“You can count me in. I’m going back.” He said this in a way that invited no argument. His mind had been made up, likely long ago, and there was nothing any of us could say that would make him rethink this decision. I remained quiet, unsure how to feel about this development. I obviously didn’t want Cornelius to leave. This little group was my family, and the idea of any one of them walking away from the life we created for ourselves in Solara Bay was devastating. But on the other hand, I wasn’t entirely unaffected by Simone’s words. I was starting to see her vision for the future and understood that it was worth fighting for.

I just couldn’t be on the front lines for this one.

“I’m sorry, Simone,” I said in a low voice. “But I can’t go back there. Maybe if things end up changing a lot… but even then. I just have so many bad memories.”

“I get it,” she said. She glanced at Nic and Matt. “What about you two?”

“I don’t know,” Matt said. “I have a job here that I really love. I–I have to think about it.”

“Me too,” said Nic. “Can we take some time?”

“Sure. I’m going back to the compound tonight, so I don’t raise too many eyebrows, but Cornelius knows how to contact me. Once you make up your mind, I will send word on how to get back to the compound without any trouble. We’ll have to devise a plan to make sure you’re not just waltzing in there without any warning. Who knows how people would react to that.”

“I’ve got some ideas,” said Cornelius. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

“I’ll help in any way that I can,” I told them, and Cornelius smiled at that. I pushed myself off the couch with a shallow sigh. “Well, if that’s everything, I have to head back into town.” I gave Simone a look. “I hope you don’t mind if I take a quick check around the perimeter before I go?”

She scoffed but in a playful way. “You haven’t changed a bit, Rory. You’re still very distrustful, aren’t you?”

I shrugged. “Not of everyone. There are three people in this room who I trust unquestioningly. And then another person I’m on my way to see right now.”

Simone’s smile widened at this, but I walked away before she could ask me any further questions. Outside the house, I took a few minutes to double-check that there was no one waiting to attack my friends once they were a man down. Then I jumped into my car and drove as fast as I could back to Daphne’s.