Kierra

Since mentioning it, I check through messages and sure enough, I have several from Mr. Dick. Well shit. I wrinkle my nose at my phone. He's waited this long, he can wait a bit longer. Probably send some toady for me at some point.

For a split second I think about how the dead Vampire had all but said he was sent but shake my head. He doesn't have the stones, he'd rather go after my money. I'm well off, having gotten so many books published and sales being high thanks to my marketing manager. I rarely dip into it unless I really need to.

My art prints are what I usually live off of. I'm getting so behind on everything. I'll need to do something soon. Feeling the hard press of my phone, my hand clenches tight around it.

I let go immediately when hearing it creak, the sound of it hitting the tiny outside table is very loud and echoes. My eyes fly to the kid, who's gaze widens at me in alarm.

"Bastion?"

My eyebrows draw together in worry.

"Your eyes. You're human but they're the color of your wolf's eyes."

Dammit. As if there wasn't enough going on, I now have twerky eyes. Perfect. I close them and start breathing deeply, not sure if it will do anything, but it's worth a shot. After a minute I open them, he's still looking at me.

"How about now? Still yellow?"

He shakes his head. Good. Beginning to wonder if they've been doing that and no one's noticed, or if it's a new development when my emotions are all over the place. Going to be damn near impossible to keep it from happening.

I hand him my phone and shoo him back into the house. Standing in the doorway with nothing on his feet, the cold breeze is going right through into the house. Goofy kid.

Rubbing down my jeep is the easy part. The harder part is fixing the dents. Getting the idea from a commercial I'd seen once, I reach inside where it is, and push out. Doesn't want to move till I call on a little wolfy power, then it moves with no problem. Didn't really 'call' on anything so much as stopped thinking with a human's limitations.

Getting it as good as it's going to be, I brush my hands on my pants. I turn just as Asher comes from behind the house.

"Ah, perfect timing. I need you to do something for me."

His pace slows, head cocking.

"I need you to watch Bastion for a few while I go have a chat with my neighbors."

He looks a little confused but gives me a nod of his head.

"Thanks. Oh, and if my phone rings again, just have him toss it in my room."

With that, I turn and head down my driveway. Don't need no stinkin' coat. The whole clean-up session only took maybe an hour with all my procrastinating while doing it.

Thinking about it though, I probably should have grabbed one, just to cover the bandages. Can't very well be too convincing that no one is being murdered when you're covered in pink gauze. Gauze itself wasn't pink, I'd just been bleeding again. Screw it, I don't want to go back.

Down the long driveway, checking my neglected mailbox comes first. Can tell Asher marked it as my nose wrinkles. Only thing in the metal and plastic box is several newspapers crammed into it. I sigh.

My mailman and I don't get along too well. Even when nothing is threatening my life, I don't always check the damn mail, Faline's usually the one who remembers to do it. But instead of, you know, not giving me those damn useless papers like I've asked him, he has to cram them in the box.

I'm so going to have fun one of these days. Hide in the trees then come after him like a hound from hell. That oughta learn him. Leaving the crap for later, I head up the road.

This road is paved, ending in like a cul de sac a few yards down from my home's entrance. It's a back road, so not too many come down it, if at all. The dirt trail that had originally led to Asher's old house has been overgrown for years. Wouldn't even know there's anything there if you weren't familiar with the area.

I keep going, the house I'm heading to is a couple miles from mine, but I don't mind the walk, gives me time to think while keeping my skin cold. Don't ask me why, it just helps. Having put my hair up earlier, I now take it down, won't dry if left up, so now I let it loose to freeze. Perfect.

Another sigh passes my lips. Even I can tell my mood is off.

No, not off, I've just finally gotten past my sad, mourning stage. I'm now into the flippant and angry mindset. It doesn't bode well for those around me.

I pick up my speed to a run. Not as good as when on four feet, and my chest is so not thrilled, so I stop shortly after. My footfalls had been soft enough, lope easy, but my bust is just that annoying.

My chest in Were form is there, just nowhere near as pronounced. Small mercies are a blessing. Would be hard to fight if you had flailing tits. The image that conjures makes me choke on a laugh.

I catch on to a scent. Been getting it for awhile, just too wrapped up in my own head to pay attention. I have officially failed my perception check. Didn't roll a 1, maybe a 2, since nothing huge or horrible is coming at me.

Stopping to look around, nothing appears out of the ordinary. I lift my nose to catch it again, but it's gone. Couldn't even decipher what it was, or is.

Turning back to my path, I continue on, but this time more alert. Nothing more bothers me till I reach the end of my neighbor's drive. Here I pick up that scent again. Little stronger than it was before but not by much, remaining faint and elusive.

Like mine, theirs is also kept as dirt. But whereas mine sees use, this one is rather overgrown, the mailbox tangled in long dry grass and tree leaves. Odd. Granted it's an older couple that live here, but they're usually on top of things.

The woman had come by a couple times before, offering random things that she couldn't get rid of at her flea market booth. Small trinkets that usually got stuck on my bookshelves and forgotten about till I'd have to move them. About the only things that would get any use were the handmade incense. Long thick sticks with some random scent or another. Some were good, others... really weren't. I'm not one for patchouli, thank you very much.

That one's the worst. Downright rank. Faline had lit one once, my door was closed, yet I was driven from the house for hours till it aired out. Way too strong. Could just imagine what it would do to me now. Thinking about it, you'd swear I had a paranormal sense of smell back then just from my reaction.

Mailbox is open and empty, sort of. Looks like something nested in it for a while. My brows draw together as I look towards the house. With many of the trees having gone bare, you can just barely see the corner of it.

Carefully, I make my way closer, listening hard. Tree limbs rubbing against each other in the wind is all I detect. No birds, no foraging critters. Along with the older couple, there should be a horse and a cat here. It had been a stray she found and kept since it ate the mice that would get into her horse feed.

I don't know much about the man, believe she said he was into masonry at some point, but she had been trying to get him to quit since according to her he was too old to be messing with rocks. Have a feeling it was a hobby of his that she didn't approve of. Old people are adorable. I hurry my steps, getting worried now.

Never heard mention of any kids or grand-kids and never been into her house to see any pictures. Only know them by their last name; Jackson, and that doesn't allow much for identification. That name in the Rockford area alone is quite common.

Coming up on the house, all is dead quiet. It's a two-story with a small porch, no garage, and a pile of stone bricks around three feet high set randomly in the 'front yard'. Everything is overgrown, dark, and there's no vehicle in sight.

What the hell? These woods are becoming a ghost town.

That may actually be a good thing though, come to think of it. I make my way to their porch, looking at the massively chipped paint siding. It looks like it's been deserted for quite some time now.

How come they didn't say goodbye? The woman was nice enough to have done so, or seemed like it anyway. Windows are dark, but I peek in anyway.

Through dust and grime that I have to wipe at, I can make out some details. Furniture, but it looks broken and tossed around. The edge of a flipped table along one wall can be seen. Screw it, I open the door.

If there was a lock, it'd been broken. The heavy door is warped so bad that it's swollen to the point I have to shove it open. Doing so makes quite a bit of noise, but it can't be helped. Finally getting opened enough so I can go through, I pull it the rest of the way open so outside light can filter in.

That and now it can't be quietly closed on me. See? Horror movies are good for something other than screaming women and manly men who don't know jack.

My moving and displacing the air has the dust all a-tizzy. Glancing around the main room, it's shaped much like my own. Kitchen on one side, living room on the other, hallway straight ahead leading to various rooms. All the furniture has been flipped and tossed, most if not all of it broken.

Not a crap-load of dust that you'd assume, but cobwebs aplenty. A couple of the windows look broken, the smells of random animals having been in and out for what looks like months are pretty heavy.

Was my area like, deadzone or something? No one coming to fix and resell properties, no bulldozing, nothing. I do a quick walk-through, finding most clothes gone, no valuables, electronics, or appliances. Not even the stove or fridge. Thankfully the gas line had been shut off.

Although if it weren't I'm sure I would have found out a while ago. The kitchen and bathroom sinks are still intact while the porcelain tub is cracked and looks like it's about to collapse. No shower head, it's literally a tub with a wrap around curtain.

Toilet looks like something had made a home in it semi-recently. The smell of scat from several different animals at different times tickles at my nose. The whole place looks like they left in a hurry, taking some stuff yet leaving the easier carryables.

Makes no sense to me, but then, most people don't make sense to me. One room still has a single bed, the metal frame broken and mattress ripped up. No dresser, a single chair missing three of its legs, and a broken window.

Shattered in, not out. Meaning it was broken from the outside. Something happened here, but I haven't the slightest clue as to what. Hope the couple is still alive and just moved somewhere.

The other rooms are relatively empty, only having a few empty crates laying around. Closets are empty as is the upstairs. Going back to the kitchen, I don't see a door to a basement. Leaving through the back door leads me into the fenced-in yard they have.

Horse is gone, the single stall barn thing empty aside from a dead animal carcass. Saddened when I recognize it as a cat, I salute the bones. Like my own home, there's no garage or shed.

Turning to look at the back of the house, I do see a set of doors leading into what I'm guessing is the basement or cellar. Covered in long grass, the only reason I'd seen it is due to the rusty chain literally being red with rust, which shows quite well through dead grass and leaves.

Debating on whether I should or not, I chew on my lip while looking over the doors. I'm sure this is the punchline to some movie or other. Giving another look around the area reveals no tools or items I can use for any reason, just the rusted chain and lock.

The doors are thick and heavy, still intact. Maybe it's just because of where they are, but they look almost newer than anything else I've seen here. Well taken care of. Undisturbed for at least as long as the house has been empty. Would make sense though if the doors were an addition at a later time.

Maybe I'm just making up excuses for something so benign to keep from possibly getting into more trouble. A smile curves my lips, knowing that lately... I'm always up for some trouble.

I reach down and yank the lock from the chain, both snap rather easily from the handles. One side is pulled up before almost dropping it as I damn near toss my cookies right then and there.

Nope, too much.

I let go of the door and turn just in time to empty my gut. Why...on the Goddess' green earth...did I not fucking catch that sooner? Jeebus. I back up. Way back, trying not to spill organs from my mouth.

I'm always up for trouble - unless it smells like that, then I want nothing to do with it. Christ. My eyeballs are burning and I think my nose hairs are trying to crawl down my throat.