me. You’re protecting a wanted man, and it would be wise of you to get out of the way before something even more unfortunate happens.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Stark almost laughed. “You poor girl. You still don’t believe me. He must have said something to you when you met Walter. Something to indicate that he might be a threat, however vague he was at the time, because he did know. You never questioned why a total stranger would show you such hostility so quickly and readily? I know Charlie. He was my best friend, and I know what to do to get under his skin. That’s why I sent him a werewolf as a present. He remembers the blood and the beasts, and everything they did when he was still too young and unlearned to stop them. Assuming that you mean anything at all to him, he probably didn’t want to let that boy into that apartment, and he’s probably willing to do just about anything to get him to leave. I’ll bet that he’s pushing the idea that death is the kinder option.”
I didn’t move, or at least I didn’t think that I had. But Stark’s eyes lit up as he shook his head.
“Poor girl…” He stood up from the table to leave. “You’d best keep an eye on the situation. They might be in on that exit plan together, and we both know Vince has more than enough hair to spare in making that deal.”
Chapter 6
I tried to ignore the things he said. For the most part, it wasn’t hard.
Charlie’s knowledge of certain things had always disturbed me, but somehow I had trouble seeing him as the monster that Stark described. He wasn’t that person anymore, and if he ever had been, it was because of Stark.
But there was a grain of truth, like a pebble in my shoe, which threw me off balance. It was the way that Charlie had looked at Walter the first time they met. There was recognition there. At the time, I had brushed it off. Charlie had recognized Walter as a werewolf, and that was all.
But what if it had been more?
He had taken me out that night to gather the supplies that would make him a human, and then we’d gone for coffee. If he had looked into the eyes of a werewolf and recognized a man he had killed, and then gone about his shopping and socializing all the same, then maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought.
I knew he had recognized something in Walter even though I didn’t want to believe it. And I knew he was my friend, because he had used the things that we had gathered that night to bring me back to Earth after my close shave with demonhood.
It preoccupied my thoughts through my entire Japanese literature class, and wouldn’t relent on my walk back home. If Charlie decided to read my thoughts or not, he was going to know that something was up when I went back to the apartment. I needed more time to decide what I was going to say.
I ducked into the sandwich place to give myself time to think. I didn’t even know how I felt about it. Charlie lied, and he did it well. I had seen him do it too convincingly and too often. But could Stark be telling the truth?
“Rough first day?”
I looked up and realized that I had been standing at the register to place my order, and staring at the menu, oblivious, for too long.
“Oh, yeah, rough day,” I agreed, shaking my head and trying to gather myself. I smiled at the clerk, who smiled back with lips painted bright red. She had dark hair that was just a touch auburn, and it was curled into a suicide roll beneath the hairnet she was wearing.
She smiled wider and pulled a cookie from the display case, handing it to me. “On the house. What can I get you?”
“Thank you.” I took the cookie, a little surprised, and then turned my attention back to the menu. “Can I get the number four, large, but with the spread you use on the number two?”
“Sure thing.” She punched it in to the register. “That’ll be six fifty-seven.”
I paid and went to a table to wait. Vince should have already been back at the apartment, waiting, and
I narrowed my eyes.
Stark almost laughed. “You poor girl. You still don’t believe me. He must have said something to you when you met Walter. Something to indicate that he might be a threat, however vague he was at the time, because he did know. You never questioned why a total stranger would show you such hostility so quickly and readily? I know Charlie. He was my best friend, and I know what to do to get under his skin. That’s why I sent him a werewolf as a present. He remembers the blood and the beasts, and everything they did when he was still too young and unlearned to stop them. Assuming that you mean anything at all to him, he probably didn’t want to let that boy into that apartment, and he’s probably willing to do just about anything to get him to leave. I’ll bet that he’s pushing the idea that death is the kinder option.”
I didn’t move, or at least I didn’t think that I had. But Stark’s eyes lit up as he shook his head.
“Poor girl…” He stood up from the table to leave. “You’d best keep an eye on the situation. They might be in on that exit plan together, and we both know Vince has more than enough hair to spare in making that deal.”
Chapter 6
I tried to ignore the things he said. For the most part, it wasn’t hard.
Charlie’s knowledge of certain things had always disturbed me, but somehow I had trouble seeing him as the monster that Stark described. He wasn’t that person anymore, and if he ever had been, it was because of Stark.
But there was a grain of truth, like a pebble in my shoe, which threw me off balance. It was the way that Charlie had looked at Walter the first time they met. There was recognition there. At the time, I had brushed it off. Charlie had recognized Walter as a werewolf, and that was all.
But what if it had been more?
He had taken me out that night to gather the supplies that would make him a human, and then we’d gone for coffee. If he had looked into the eyes of a werewolf and recognized a man he had killed, and then gone about his shopping and socializing all the same, then maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought.
I knew he had recognized something in Walter even though I didn’t want to believe it. And I knew he was my friend, because he had used the things that we had gathered that night to bring me back to Earth after my close shave with demonhood.
It preoccupied my thoughts through my entire Japanese literature class, and wouldn’t relent on my walk back home. If Charlie decided to read my thoughts or not, he was going to know that something was up when I went back to the apartment. I needed more time to decide what I was going to say.
I ducked into the sandwich place to give myself time to think. I didn’t even know how I felt about it. Charlie lied, and he did it well. I had seen him do it too convincingly and too often. But could Stark be telling the truth?
“Rough first day?”
I looked up and realized that I had been standing at the register to place my order, and staring at the menu, oblivious, for too long.
“Oh, yeah, rough day,” I agreed, shaking my head and trying to gather myself. I smiled at the clerk, who smiled back with lips painted bright red. She had dark hair that was just a touch auburn, and it was curled into a suicide roll beneath the hairnet she was wearing.
She smiled wider and pulled a cookie from the display case, handing it to me. “On the house. What can I get you?”
“Thank you.” I took the cookie, a little surprised, and then turned my attention back to the menu. “Can I get the number four, large, but with the spread you use on the number two?”
“Sure thing.” She punched it in to the register. “That’ll be six fifty-seven.”
I paid and went to a table to wait. Vince should have already been back at the apartment, waiting, and
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