Havermouth, Present Time
Eight men all stood in their cells staring as Aislen turned the trundle bed on it’s side and dragged it around to create a corner that, when she was kneeling, gave her some privacy in which to use the bedpan.
“Now, why didn’t I think of that?” Dr. James commented dryly from her bed.
“I’m peeing,” Aislen replied. “Crouched behind a trundle bed, in a f-king cage surrounded by different types of zombies, and with eight idiots staring at me. I don’t really want to be chatting with you, Dr. James, right now.”
“And yet, here we are,” Dr. James pointed out finger combing her hair. “Life is strange, isn’t it, Aislen? Who would have thought that we’d end up cell mates. It’s sort of funny seeing as we’ve both been trying to put each other into a cell all along.”
“I didn’t kill my daughter in order to get my rocks off,” Aislen grumbled under her breath.
“You’re not peeing.”
“I have f-king stage fright,” Aislen snapped, her eyes going to the row of men who continued to stare at her intensely. “F-king perverts,” she accused them. “At least close your eyes!”
“Think of the beach,” the doctor advised. “That always does it for me.”
“The river,” Aislen closed her eyes and imagined the river as seen from the balcony of the river house. F-k, where were Rhett and Cameron? Were they okay? How was Heath going? Had Talen managed to turn him? “F-k,” she gritted her teeth and concentrated on breathing, and was finally able to go, the relief washing away with the wish that the bedpan wasn’t metal, so that the ring of her piss wasn’t so loud within it.
She repaired her clothing and carried the bedpan over to the door. “This is so wrong,” she muttered as she pushed it through the flap into the hallway. “Just think about the Triquetra,” she told herself. “They’d make it sexy somehow.”
“Aislen,” Toby called softly from his cage, gripping the bars. “We should just get into the car and go.”
“Nothing. There is nothing in the back,” one of the original men agreed.
“Let them go. We will stay here,” the other man added.
“Shit,” Aislen worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She considered the four original men and frowned remembering the Van Helsings that had stopped the car. “F-k,” she tried to remember what she’d thought at them when they’d been there – what they were saying would be right, she decided. She wanted to stop them from searching the car, and the let them go. Bianca had been right, she thought, this power of hers was dangerous. “I’m sorry Toby. I f-ked your head up, I know. I can’t…”
The doors opened, and the still silence that fell told her that it was Sparrow returning. Dr James fell off the bed in her haste to crawl under it, her face terrified. Aislen looked down at the bedpan full of piss and regretted pushing it out of the cage. The next time, she decided, she’d keep it and throw the contents in his f-king face.
Sparrow had a blonde woman with him, and she slid Aislen a sideways glance as she picked up the bedpan and carried it out with her.
“Hello again Aislen,” Sparrow smiled at her pleasantly. “You’ve been renovating your cell?”
“A girl needs some privacy,” Aislen retorted.
“Hmm. Well put it back on the same side, away from your neighbor, hmm? She’s violent.”
“She’s terrified of you,” Aislen commented mildly. “Everyone in here is. Did you torture them too, like you did to Heath?”
“Heath Gale… Cost me some very good people,” Sparrow replied grimly. “Some of my best. Charlotte McKenzie…” He shook his head. “It was a terrible tragedy, and I will find the vampires who were responsible for the destruction and death caused by his escape.”
“Oh diddums,” Aislen snorted.
“But to answer your question, I have nothing to do with the occupants of these cells, other than yourself. You,” he moved closer. “I am very interested in. Very, very interested in. You have quite the knack for finding missing people, don’t you, Aislen Carter? First the girl, and then Heath Gale… Is this your magic?”
“Magic?” Aislen arched an eyebrow. “I don’t have any magic.”
“Don’t,” he sighed heavily shaking his head. “Don’t do this Aislen. Tell me, how do you find people? If I had something, with some of someone’s blood on it, would you be able to locate her by the blood?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Aislen knew that she was playing a dangerous game.
He met her eyes and held them. “Aislen, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly. “But I will if you force me to.” The doors opened again and he turned his head, frowning as the woman who had taken the bedpan hurried down the walkway between the cages to where he stood.
She stood on tiptoe, and he leaned down so that she could cup a hand and whisper into his ear.
“Is that so?” His eyes lifted to where Aislen watched. “Thank you, Dove.”
The woman threw Aislen a nervous glance and hurried back the way that she had come.
Aislen wondered what she’d whispered into Sparrow’s ear, and just managed to stop herself from reaching out to find out past her ward, remembering the cuff on her wrist at the last second with a grimace. Thank f-k for her wards, she thought. As long as she avoided touching anyone, she should be okay…
“Dove had some very interesting news,” Sparrow told her with a smirk. “It’s amazing the things that witches can do with a bit of urine, isn’t it? Dove came to collect some, just in case, but she also performed a more mundane test. Can you guess what she tested for?”
“How the f-k am I supposed to know?” Aislen rolled her eyes. “If your girlfriend wants to play with pee, you’ll have to bring me some more water.”
“I know a secret,” his smirk grew wider. “I wonder if you know it too?”
F-k, Aislen froze. Had he connected her to the Secret Keeper mirror spell? They hadn’t been able to discriminate what phones got the message, so the Van Helsings would have also had the spell come through onto their phones.
“I think you’re going to be very helpful to me, Aislen Carter,” Sparrow told her. “You’re going to be very, very motivated to help me, aren’t you?”
Aislen frowned at him. “Look, I don’t know what drugs you’re on, but I think you need to adjust the dosage.” Even as she spoke, something else occurred to her, and she remembered what else piss could be tested for. F-k.
He saw it on her face. “Yes,” he said quietly. “I know. But we’re going to keep our little secret, hmm, Aislen? You, me, and Dove. Just the three of us. I like secrets, don’t you?”
“You have no idea how much,” she replied tightly.
“Good girl,” he purred with approval. “If you’ll behave, we’ll move you somewhere more… comfortable very soon. In the meantime, I should warn you,” he tapped his wrist and she saw with surprise that he wore a cuff there. “Don’t use your magic with this on. I’ll take it off you soon, and you can perform that little search for me, hmm?”
“I guess,” she replied. If he took the cuff off… “Why not now?” She asked with a bright smile. “Take the cuff off, and I’ll find who you’re looking for.” She wouldn’t betray who-ever that was, she decided, at least not until she had chopped off the arsehole’s c-ck and was watching him bleed out onto the ground.
He laughed. “You will quickly learn, Aislen, that I’m not stupid. I’ll be back, soon.” He strolled away down the silent and still cages and out the door.
“He’s a monster,” Dr James whispered from beneath the bed. “That’s why everyone is terrified of him.”
“I know he’s a monster,” Aislen agreed.
“No, I mean, he’s… a real monster. I’ve seen it. They wanted samples from him for something, and he went into one of the cages, and transformed into… It was terrifying. Like from a horror movie. A hairy wolf man.”
“A werewolf?” Aislen was stunned. Why would a werewolf be working for the Van Helsings? “He turned into a wolf?” She clarified, not quite believing it.
“No. Not a wolf,” the doctor was irritable at Aislen’s lack of understanding. “A werewolf monster, like from an old movie. Standing on his legs, but with a wolf’s snout, and sort of wiry grey hair all over, and huge muscles. His eyes…”
“Aislen,” Toby was trying to get her attention again. “We should just get into the car and go.”
“Nothing. There is nothing in the back.”
“Let them go. We will stay here.”
“Shh, the lot of you,” Aislen snapped. “I’m having a conversation with the doctor. That’s not a werewolf,” she told the doctor. “Werewolves are men who look just like us and transform into wolves.”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” Dr James complained.
“Neither can I for that matter,” Aislen agreed. “When is a werewolf not a werewolf?” She asked out loud. “And why would a werewolf that is not a werewolf help the Van Helsings to invade a town of werewolves?”
“What?” Dr James frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know,” Aislen blew out her breath. “But I’m hoping it’s something that I can use to get the f-k out of here.”
“We should just get into the car and go,” Toby agreed.
