Chapter 153 Safehouse

James and I quickly and quietly made our way through the abandoned little town. As we walked,

keeping to the rapidly growing shadows, I couldn’t help but notice the occasional blood stain on the

ground or torn bits of clothing. The most disturbing thing that I saw was a child’s teddy bear laying

discarder on the ground and covered in blood; I swallowed when I saw it, telling myself that maybe the

child who that teddy bear belonged to just dropped it and it happened to get stained with blood, but

there was a sinking feeling in the back of my mind that it wasn’t such a happy outcome.

Finally, we made it to the residential neighborhood. James led the way with his gun in his hands as the

sky began to darken. He eventually led us to a small house, then down the outside stairs to the cellar.

With a final glance over his shoulder, he pushed the door open and shut and locked it once we were

both inside.

“Help me move this barricade back,” he said. I helped him push the piles of furniture and other heavy

objects that he’d used as a barricade back into place. Finally, we could relax a little, and James led me

upstairs where all of the windows were shut tightly and the blinds and curtains were closed.

“Whose house is this?” I asked, looking around with confusion.

James merely shrugged as he dropped his backpack on the kitchen table and began to rifle through it

for cans of food. “I don’t know. I just started trying doors, and the basement door at this house was

unlocked.”

I frowned, glancing around at the surroundings. There were no photographs or any signs of clutter. The

furniture was sparse. It must have been a rental — or maybe that was what I just kept telling myself so

I wouldn’t feel so bad for commandeering someone’s home.

As James opened some cans of soup and cooked them on the stove, I started to ask questions.

“Where were you when it started?” I asked. “And how did you wind up here?”

James let out a wry chuckle. “I was in town, thankfully. The attack started on campus, so it took a little

while for things to spread. People started packing their things up and running out of town as soon as

the first group of rogues appeared, but I hid. It’s not like I would have had anywhere to go, you know?”

“What about your parents?” I asked. “Couldn’t you have gone home to them?”

All of a sudden, James froze when I mentioned his parents. I couldn’t quite tell if it was just a sore

subject from him, or if he wasn’t telling me everything. As I thought back to his father’s letter about the

‘family business’, it made me wonder if he intentionally stayed here.

Finally, he only shook his head. “I figured it would be better to just lay low here,” was all he said. I

decided not to question further. I watched as he poured the soup into two bowls, then handed me one. I

didn’t realize it before, but I was starving.

We ate in silence for a while before James led me upstairs, where there were two bedrooms. It seemed

that he already claimed one, so I took the other.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been quite long enough for the town to lose power or running water, so although

we had to keep the lights off so as not to be seen, I was still able to take a shower… And after

everything I’d been through, the hot water cascading over my body was sorely needed.

When I was finished, I stepped out and dried off before returning to the living room, where I heard the

sounds of James clanking around with something metallic. As I descended the stairs, I could see that

he was sitting in the living room.

And he was cleaning his gun.

He didn’t see me at first. He was being so meticulous, almost robotic. I watched from the darkness as

he slowly and methodically cleaned each part, then put it back together.

Then… He loaded it. I caught a glimpse of the box of bullets; they were silver.

For killing werewolves.

“James,” I said without thinking, emerging from the shadows, “are those silver bullets?” My voice shook

as I spoke.

James merely nodded and stayed focused on his work. “Of course,” he replied.

I felt a pit begin to form in my stomach. “James… These are our classmates.”

“Not anymore.” He finished loading the gun, then, to my horror, he cocked it. He then looked up at me

with a slight, sinister smile on his face. The pit in my stomach grew larger as I looked at him. In the

darkness, with only the dim light of a small lamp, he looked almost demonic. Half of his face was cast

in an amber glow, while the other half was so dark I couldn’t even make it out.

“But they can be cured,” I continued. “Tiffany made an antidote. I think it works. If we can find her

medical bag, I know she had lots of it in there. And besides, there are werewolves who are on our side

—”

James stood now and slowly walked over to me. “Nina,” he said softly, reaching out and squeezing my

shoulder, sending a chill down my spine, “they’re not gonna get better. There is no antidote, no such

thing as a werewolf being on our side. They’re all monsters. They need to be purged.”

“P-Purged?” I stuttered. “None of these people asked for this. You could at least try the antidote and

see for yourself.”

James was silent for a minute. The air between us was so thick and heavy that I felt as though I would

suffocate as he continued to tower over me. He took a step forward, then another, backing me up

against the wall.

“You know,” he said with a dry smile, “I know you’re one of them. I’ve been watching you for a while; I

know you’ve been showing signs. The speed, the healing abilities… I gave you the benefit of the doubt,

though. I knew that you were innocent, and that you didn’t ask to become a monster. You never

showed any signs of shifting, so I figured if I could just get you away from Enzo and make you see how

evil he is, then you would understand. I like you, Nina. We make a good team; think about how many of

those monsters we could take down between the two of us.”

I frowned, shaking my head as my heart raced even faster and a wave of nausea washed over me.

“No,” I whispered. “That’s not true. This isn’t you, James. Whatever your father told you—”

“My father?” James asked with a chuckle. “This isn’t about him. I could care less what he wants. But

my mother… My mother never asked to be murdered by a werewolf. And I’m determined to take down

all of those monsters one by one for her sake. If you’re only going to get in the way of that, then…”

He paused, backing me further into the corner as his face darkened.

“…I’ll have to kill you, too.