Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (12 page)

“I knew you were too much of a coward,” she said.

I wanted to turn around.  I wanted to just turn around and punch her.  We aren’t in third grade anymore having to meet behind the bleachers after school.  We were almost adults and could have sorted this out as such, but she wouldn’t let that happen. 

She wanted to humiliate me and I knew it.  I knew that she would give some low blows and cheap shots to get me down and then tell everybody I was weak and a coward and that she was the best.  It was how all of these things always happened, and I knew it wouldn’t be any different here.

“What was that all about?” Taylor asked as I sat down for lunch.

“Just Brittany being stupid.  She wants me to meet her at Founder’s Park at 8 tonight to fight her.”

“Are you going to do it?” Greg asked.

“Not at all.  I’m not a child.  If she wants to talk about things, she knows how to find me.  I’m not going to meet her in a park after dark to be attacked by her and her cronies.”

“Good move,” said Ariel.  “You are better than her.  She will get over it someday.”

“I think she is still crazy after what happened to Ashley,” Greg said.  “She probably doesn’t even know what she is doing anymore.”

As the day went on, I could notice Brittany staring me down and making gestures at me.  She wasn’t playing around, but neither was I. 

The day ended and I started to make my way to the door.  Brittany stopped me dead in my tracks.

“You better show up tonight,” she said to me.

“Get out of my way, Brittany.  I’m not dealing with you right now.”

“Yeah, ’cause you know you can’t win.  You are too scared that James will end up with a real woman and leave his little girl behind,” she said, laughing.

“Have fun in the park tonight.”

I pushed by her and went out to my car.  I got in the car and started to drive away.  I saw her staring at me giving me a look of disgust.  I looked away and went home.

When I got home, I decided to take a nap.  I was feeling better than earlier, but not well enough to care about doing anything else.  I just wanted to rest and get the thoughts of today out of my head. 

I woke up at 9:30 feeling rested and went downstairs to see if my parents were home.

“Honey, you’re up.  Did you see what happened?” my father asked.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“A student from your school was found dead earlier.  Here, it’s on TV now.”

“This is Terry Kerrington live at the scene.  A body of a young girl was found one hour ago in Founder’s Park.  We are just receiving word that the body is of a 17-year-old girl named Brittany Cornington.  Here with more on the story is Deputy Tim Masterson.”

“Earlier tonight we had an attack in Founder’s Park.  The body was bitten multiple times with what we believe are werewolf bites.  There were no witnesses that we know of at this time, and if you have any information please contact your local police department.  We believe this was unprovoked, and the werewolves that made the attack will be found and executed.”

I felt like throwing up.  Brittany was a mean person, but I never wanted her dead.  What if I had gone there tonight?  If I had let her get to me then I could also be dead.  I knew those werewolves that have been roaming around were responsible for this. 

Brittany went to the park that night waiting for Juliet.  She showed up early and set up a video camera to record the event.  She wanted to humiliate Juliet and show the entire school the video of her attacking Juliet and shaving her head bald.  She wanted Juliet to pay for what she had done to her.  Brittany had been smitten with James for a while.  While James never initiated anything with her, she was waiting for him to come around and ask her out.  All she wanted was to date him. 

She lay in wait at the park that night.  The minutes passed and nobody ever showed up.  She had a feeling Juliet would be too scared so she started packing up her things to go home.  As she did this, she saw movement in some bushes. 

“I know that’s you, Juliet,” she said out loud.  “Stop being a coward and come face me!”

The bushes rustled some more and she started getting nervous.  What if it wasn’t Juliet, she thought.  She tried to grab her things and get out of the park.  She bent over to grab her bag and as she looked up she was tackled to the ground.  A large, grey werewolf stood over her. Drool dripped onto her face.  She screamed in terror as it attacked her.  Her lifeless body lay on the ground, waiting to be found by anybody who might stumble upon it.

When the news broke to Mr. and Mrs. Cornington, they were devastated.  Their only two girls were both gone.  One dead at the hands of a vicious werewolf, the other locked away in a secret government facility.  Mr. Cornington vowed to destroy whoever did this to his daughter.  He knew werewolves had human forms and he vowed to find and destroy this person. 

Juliet had trouble getting up after hearing the news.

“Honey, are you okay?” her father asked.

“Y—yeah,” she said.

“Did you know this girl?”

“Yeah, I did.  She went to my school and was in my grade.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie.  I know we will work on finding the wolf who did this and bring justice to your friend.”

I went up to my room and started crying hysterically.  Why did this have to happen?  I would give anything to bring Brittany back.  Sure she was annoying and cruel, but she didn’t deserve to die and especially the way she did.  Her parents were going through so much already with Ashley and she should’ve still been there to help them through that.  Now they had to deal with not only the death of their daughter but also the imprisonment of their other daughter.

I knew something had to be done about the werewolves that had taken over the area.  I needed to speak with James’s family.  Maybe they could do something about it.  Vampires were the only people that could stop a pack of werewolves effectively. 

I knew I had to talk to James at school about this.  I knew I had to make a difference and stop these attacks from happening to innocent people.  I knew it needed to end.

Chapter Six

Alert

The next morning all the news stations talked about was the death of Brittany.  It was a vicious attack and we hadn’t seen a werewolf attack on a mortal in years.  Every big station played over and over the details and pictures from the scene.  It was disturbing to say the least.  I saw pictures of her lifeless corpse covered by a tarp.  Her body hadn’t been moved and it was disgusting. 

I had even more protection on my way to school.  They took me in a large SUV, and I had an extra guard in the car with me.  I pulled up to the school to see guards outside checking identification of every person that went in or out of that school.  They were treating us like criminals.  As if we were some lowlifes who committed this act and they were trying to find the one who did it. 

I went inside and saw James standing by my locker. 

“Did you follow them last night?” I asked him.

“Yeah, nothing checked out.  They were near us when the attack happened,” he replied.

“Why would they be so scared then?  I mean and then this happened later on.  It doesn’t make sense,” I said.

“Maybe they know who did it.  Maybe there are some people in their pack that went rogue and they are worried someone might find out that they know,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess.  I kind of wished it was them, though,” I said.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

“Then at least we would know and we could do something about it.  Now there are just rogue wolves running around the city terrorizing people.  We are helpless,” I said.

“No we aren’t.  We are already looking into it,” he said.

I smiled and hugged him.  I was just glad I didn’t go last night. I might not be hugging him had I decided to show up.

“All students report to the auditorium in a timely manner.  We are holding an assembly for events that have happened recently,” Principal Trudy said over the intercom.

We all made our way to the auditorium.  Kids were shoving each other to try to get in and get the best seats.  Everybody wanted to sit next to their friends.  I got a seat next to James in the upper row.  As more students started sitting down, the assembly started.

“Recent events have called for drastic measures for our school,” Principal Trudy said.  “Last night we lost a member of our family.  Brittany Cornington lost her life last night in Founder’s Park.  We are hoping for swift action in her case and hope that whoever did this comes to justice.  We also have the entire Cornington family in our prayers and hope that they will be able to cope and grieve with the loss of their daughter.  If anybody wants to sign a card, we have one in the office that we will be sending to them.  Because of these events, we will be taking new security measures here.  Firstly, you may have noticed that there are more guards here.  This is because of the increased threat of an attack happening here on school grounds.  Brittany’s attack was something that should have never happened and we want to make sure the people responsible aren’t able to come and do it here.  Secondly, everybody that comes in or out has to be checked.  Your information will be sent to a database telling us if you are in the building or if you have left.  This is so we can make sure we know of everybody that is here.  Every entrance and exit has guards that are doing this procedure.  Thirdly, we will not be having any gym or extracurricular activities outside.  We feel it is too much of a threat and we cannot make sure everybody is safe at all times outside.  We simply do not have the manpower to do this.  These new rules and more like them are subject to change at any time.  If anything happens to change, we will promptly address it and let you all know.  Here with something to say is Mr. Garret.”

Mr. Garret was one of the school’s guidance counselors.  He was a short, stocky man who was partially balding and had thick-framed glasses.

“Good morning, students.  I know the tragedy of Brittany’s death has caused heartache for a lot of you.  My staff and I are available during all school hours and after hours by appointment for your convenience.  You can also get a pass from class if this is heavily bothering you and you need to speak to a counselor right away.  We will help with any grief counseling you may have, and we are sure we can help ease the minds and hearts of everybody that needs it,” Mr. Garret said.

“If you have any questions please feel free to come to the front office.  Classes will resume on their normal schedules, so please disperse in an orderly fashion and make your way to your classes.  Thank you,” Principal Trudy said.

Everybody started to push and shove their way out like a bunch of crowded wildebeests in a room full of hungry lions.  I finally made my way out of the auditorium and waited for James.  I couldn’t find him and people were getting restless so I decided just to go to class.  By the time it was all said and done, I had history for my first class of the day.  I was just happy I got to bypass math altogether and go to a class where I could sit and act like I was interested while I thought about everything that happened.

I walked into class and half of the class was already there.  I took my seat and started thinking.  I needed to talk to James’s family.  Not only did I want to see them again and get away from my family, but I also wanted to see what they could do about these werewolves.  They needed to stop them from hurting anybody else. 

I started thinking of trying to befriend Derek and Cara.  I really didn’t like either one of them, but I knew they were key to figuring this out.  They knew who was behind it.  They knew the rogue wolves that had formed their own pack and started to hurt innocent people.  I quickly squashed that idea, though, when I remembered how Cara treated me at the nurse’s office.  She wouldn’t even talk to me now that I was with James.  She knew I would only be up to something and she wouldn’t trust me.  It would just be a colossal waste of time I could spend planning with James’s family. 

After class was over I made it a mission to find James.  I wanted to come over as soon as possible so we could plan our next moves.  I went to his locker to see him putting on his jacket.

“Where are you going?” I asked him.

“Home. I need to talk with my family about what we should do.” he replied.

“I was just going to talk to you about that.  I want to come over and help.”

“I’m not sure if that is a great idea.  I don’t want you getting involved and getting hurt.  I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said.  “And besides, I want to spend time with you alone.”

“I still don’t know,” he said, grabbing my hand.

“I’ll be fine.  Just let me come over tonight.”

“Fine.  I’ll pick you up with Emma at five.  It won’t all be fun, though.  We have a lot of serious work to do.”

“I know,” I said.  “I’m ready for it.”

He smiled and kissed me before walking away.  I stood there smiling before turning around and walking off.  The taste of his lips still lingered on mine as my lips started getting warm again. 

At lunch they had a memorial service for Brittany.  There were pictures and flowers up everywhere, and you could go light a candle or sign a card for her family.  People talked about memories of her and everybody cried.  It was weird to see so many people distraught over her death.  Most of the people were people she didn’t care about at all.  People who she teased or made miserable were crying as if their grandmothers just passed away.  The power she had over these people was stranger than words.  I didn’t understand it.