Kierra

Xavier is pacing behind the couch while Benjamin hasn't moved from his seat. I don't look either in the face, just determine where they are in the room. Bryanna's still standing near the desk, a quick glance up shows her looking at the forming puddles.

"Yeah, don't mind that. Long story, but it's a Silver Wolf thing."

I don't wait for a response, taking another long drink as I go back to the desk and click on a new video. Not wanting to watch through another long clip, I skip to an area in the middle and have it play from there. Happens to be both a good and bad thing.

A child is kneeling on the bed, dressed in the typical school girl get up with her hair in pigtails. Wide, scared eyes follow the body just out of the camera's range, probably on a stationary tripod. My mind flashes on the room I'd found when there, the lights and stand setup and facing the bed. This is that room.

Can see tears flow down her face, lips trembling as the angle zooms in close. When most of her face takes up the screen, I pause it. Nails tap on the desk before I move to the file cabinet set next to it. Alarico's files held within are called on now.

Haven't gone through them to separate or order, but luckily it isn't a very big stack. When I set them down and start flipping through, the female Were finds her voice.

"Someone tell me what's going on. What are you doing? Who are they? Why were you in that video?"

I keep flipping, only looking up when I need to double-check a face.

"Another long story, but the gist of it is, I'm working on finding lost kids and adults that have been taken. These files are, if I recall, fifteen years worth of missing persons in the area. Not just humans, but Shifters and Weres as well. Benjamin finds the money, which leads to people and their connections starting from one basic point."

Holding up a sheet of paper, the image on it matches the girl on the bed almost perfectly. I don't look at the name, family info, or details of her life. Knowing someone’s name can make things harder, and I don't need that right this moment.

"Just you two? Why not take these to the police? All that information you've collected, they can do more than you can."

I shake my head and set the file aside, apart from the others.

"I don't want to involve anyone else if I don't have to, and giving these to the cops is a very bad idea since not all of them are human. It could mean exposure."

That calms her feathers a little bit, but she still looks perturbed when I glance at her. Standing upright, I look her dead on.

"There's a human trafficking ring that I happen to be involved in. Not by choice, I assure you. I was on that video because I'd been taken from my home right after being attacked by the Werewolf who Changed me. They held me for three days, drugged into a stupor that had slowed down my change. It was because of what I am now that I was able to get free."

The emotions playing over her face during my speech has me wondering about this woman, but when she finally settles on determination, my doubts dissolve.

"You're hunting them, aren't you?"

Pretty sure the smile I give isn’t a reassuring one, but it is honest.

"Yes. Each one we find will be hunted down and killed. Painfully. Brutally."

Her head nods slowly, eyes roaming over my face.

"Does everyone else know?"

I cock my head and blink at her.

"Some do. If those below aren't yet asleep I'm sure they are following along as well. The extent of it isn’t known to everyone though, and I'd like to keep it that way. If the others haven't told you yet, the Red Wolf Pack is roaming this area and it's their Alpha that gave me these."

A long fingernail taps on the pile, I hope I can make it much shorter as time goes on. Not holding my breath though. The woman’s eyelids flutter and blink, nervousness rising again.

"No one will harm you here, Bryanna, you have my word. Either before or after your work shift, I'll have Zypher and Shade give you a rundown on what all is going on here, that should help immensely."

She nods, looking a little relieved while stifling a yawn.

"As I said, you can either take my room, or you can shift and join the others downstairs. Since you haven't been around others like you, I don't expect you to be comfortable with how we do things here."

Wrapping her arms around her middle, she goes shy once more.

"If it's alright, I'll take the bedroom."

Inclining my head, I watch as she heads towards it, closing the door once she's inside. Fingernails tap on the stack once more before I get back to it. Finding who the girl is, I close out the video. Watching anymore of it isn't necessary. I hope.

The next video is much the same. Having skipped ahead in it and going too far to see the small girl tied down. I rewind till I find just her face, pause it, and go through the stack once more. I fear all these faces will be seen in my dreams.

Can't think of what they're going through, from before and possibly now. It will make you go insane. The whole 'If I'd done something sooner' trap. It's a bitch.

Another human child, according to the sheet I find bearing her face. I set it aside and forge ahead. Or that's the intent until I skip ahead before seeing the beginning. When allowed to play, it shows Bastion on the bed. A lump forms in my throat before anger spikes and heats my blood.

The camera is set up on its tripod, pointing to the lit-up mattress adorned with cuffs and ropes. A small boy in the middle of the bed is on his hands and knees, James in his face while Fred grasps his behind. He looks so tiny compared to them.

His thrashing shows his inner fire, as does the multiple bruises forming from previous strikes. I can feel my eyes change once more, claws lengthen, and my jaw aches. Almost break the computer as I turn off the clip, my mouse cracking before I let it go.

The urge to hold my Imp right now is immense, but I don't want him to find out the reason. I take several steps back, moving away from the expensive electronics. Tears burn behind my eyes as the scene continues to play out in my head.

How does one help a child get through something like that when they're just as damaged themselves? I may be able to identify, having gone through similar events, but he's a male, things work differently for them.

My eyes end up landing on Xavier, who's also standing rigidly a few feet away. He's keeping his face blank, but it's pretty obvious he's fighting himself about something. Gaze finds Benji next, his eyes still following me as I move. I could find out quickly if I stopped blocking emotions, but I can't deal with mine and theirs right now.

None of us know what to say, and I'm not finished yet. I take another long pull from my drink, downing the rest of it. Alcohol always makes me feel hot when I start drinking, so adding it to Werewolf heat and what's going on right now... Drinking anymore would be a very bad idea.

Feet feel like lead blocks as they move back to the desk. There's only one more homemade clip, the others are downloaded from porn sites. Before I can do anything though, the Vampire speaks up.

"Skip to the end. This one you'll want to turn up, as they mention a couple of names."

Following instruction, I skip all the way to the end of it. The sound barely goes up, enough to let me know I need to go back further as they are in mid-conversation. The sound quality is crap, so I need to turn it up further to make out the words over the static background.

My face falls into a scowl immediately as I listen. Fred and James are complaining that they can't keep 'them', that they have to be taken to George who has all the fun, getting to break them in. Their voices change slightly when they bring up another that one of the girls is supposed to go to, how she was singled out.

Supposed to take two girls to George, one to Zack, then get their money from Mal. They go on for a few minutes on how the guy creeps them out. I find that hilarious coming from them. Go figure two creeps being weirded out by another creep.

Pulling out a scrap of paper from one of the small cubbies, I write the names down. Making note that two went with one man and the last girl went to a different one. Sticking the pen in my mouth, I rewind the clip to find an image of her face.

I don't find her within the stack, so her disappearance had to be ruled something other than missing persons. Either that or Alarico missed one. He doesn't seem the type, so it has to be prior.

The stacked files get put back in the cabinet and the two loose ones set aside. Chewing on the plastic between my teeth, I start lining out a tree. It starts with Fred and James, but it goes upward. Frank, the man who's looking for Bastion, is written down, set a little higher since he has been found to be one of the money managers.

The man my sister had gotten a hold of, the lawyer, is also put down. Having found out earlier that he and Frank are friends, I make a note of that. Off to the side, I write down the judge and lawyer I had on my case as a child, unclear where they fit in as of yet.

The new names also get written in, the 'Mal' mentioned is clearly one of the money runners, while George and Zack are the ones who break the kids. Going by that logic, that would mean that the two men I killed were 'collectors'; men who catch and hold the children till they can be passed or sold off.

Benjamin comes up next to me as I move to the kitchen table, needing more space as I add more paper to the tree getting made up. He hands me a folder and being so caught up in everything I open it automatically and find a list of more names. Names and who they are to the public.

There's also a listing of establishments and businesses that he's tracked funds going to. One is the fetish club that's situated right in the middle of the city.

"From what I've been able to gather, the club is being used as a front to hide what goes on. Credit card trails lead many of those names to the place, dropping thousands of dollars within. It’s unknown if the regulars to the club are aware of what goes on, but you can pretty much guarantee the ones who run it are."

I barely hear him, since my mind is caught on one of the people listed. An older man. A priest. I make a sound of disgust and drop the papers onto the table.

"And people wonder why I don't like people. As a whole, they're all fucked up. Public servant my ass."

I remove the USB drive from my computer, not wanting anything more to do with it and wanting it out of my hardware. It gets handed back to the Vampire with finality.

"I want that destroyed. If you got everything worth having from it, then it's no longer of any use."

He blinks in acknowledgment, putting it in the briefcase sitting on the chair.

"We need to get over to this club and have a look around. I know absolutely squat about that scene, and undercover doesn't work well with me."

Benji shuts the case, flipping the locks closed and setting it on the table before he turns back to me.

"I know enough to get us in the front door, but beyond that, it'll be up in the air."

I raise an eyebrow, unable to keep the smirk from my face. Benjamin all done up in fetish wear is sure something entertaining to picture. Pretty stereotypical too, since that's how most Vamps are seen these days. Movie wise, I mean.

Biting the inside of my cheek doesn't help, just makes the smile more obvious. His searching eyes add to his suspicious look, so I just chuckle and turn away. With Bryanna taking my room, I can't get this set up in there without disturbing her and don't really want it out in the open.

Glancing around bears no ideas, so I just take it to my sister’s room. Still out in the open, but not extremely obvious. Exhaustion starts to really slow me down, even though I don't think I could sleep.

So much done yet so much more to do. Just the thought makes my head hurt with needed rest. When I make my way slowly out of the empty bedroom, new killer tree hung up on my little sister’s wall, I find that Benji has left. Good.

Xavier is locking the front door, but I tell him not to bother. Really no point. A house full of fantastical beasts that can rip your face off as well as the grounds being patrolled by assorted freaks...doesn't scream for the need to have a single flimsy lock.

"What are your plans for later today?"

Glancing up at the tall male, I stifle a groan. Him putting it that way just makes it clear I won't be able to sleep for long.

"Planning ahead never works, things always come up in the middle and set the whole timeline off. There's a collection of things to do when given the time to do so, then you work from there."

He smiles and nods, grabbing up his instrument before heading downstairs. Since my room is occupied, I head for the bathroom to shift. So tired, it's not till I hear the little 'tinks' that I remember I forgot to take out jewelry. Oops.

Going below, Xavier is standing near Bastion and looking down at him. The maned wolf’s mane looks ruffled, so I stop and watch. A masked coyote is curled up close to his belly and a striped fox is draped over his legs, the hyena and inverted fox not that far away.

The tall canine dips his head down further, swiping a tongue over the boy's face. Bastion startles awake, but on seeing who woke him, he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. Tan eyes look toward me before he steps away, clearing my way to get closer.

Seeing what my Imp had done changes nothing, if anything it just makes me even more protective. Actions done under duress can hardly be blamed on the one doing them. Nosing his cheek, he smiles, reaching for my side.

Takes a bit of maneuvering, but we get into position, his head on my ribs while I curl around him, my long tail draped over his body. Think this may end up as our new way to sleep.

Xavier finally takes his usual spot, using my hip as his pillow. Instead of curling up though, he lays stretched out against the human’s back. Maii and Kani end up getting moved, but they move right back to the positions they were in. Mostly.

The coyote is curled into his belly, while the fox takes up between his parted legs, using the back of his knee as a pillow. Movement catches my eye, Rika having raised her head to see what was going on. She watches for a moment longer, then lowers and goes back to sleep.

Still feels bare without Asher, but other bodies are starting to make up for that. Shade and his brother have warmed to the idea and sleep close to us as well. One big puppy pile. Really going to suck when it starts warming up outside. Too hot to touch, let alone cuddle with giant fur bundles. Hmm.