as written by Tiko, Dashmiel, Script, and Faithy
Somewhere in Lupaix...
The trail didn’t lead them far - only a few blocks - before it crossed ways with a payphone and seemingly went dry.
When they got to a payphone, Aimee glanced around, cursing softly beneath her breath, struggling to pick up the scent of her father again. Nothing made sense to her and she was beginning to wonder just why her father had disappeared. Keeping those thoughts to herself, she inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly before fighting to concentrate, trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. “This doesn’t make sense…” She muttered, sniffing the air.
Ragenard made his way closer to the payphone, and carefully inspected it. There was no doubt about it, Jacques’ scent still lingered around the area, evidently he had made a phone call here before vanishing.
“Makes perfect sense pup, and I wish it didn’t. Your father dipped out on us against orders to stay put. He left his perfectly good working cellphone, came here, and made a phone call. Since I can’t smell him from here, the call must have been to someone to come pick him up,” he said quietly, his tone belying the anger he already felt rising.
“Check around guys, see if you can spot anything. Snow, help me out, we gotta find the last spot his scent was clear and then find something else to tie it with.”
Draaven’s nostrils flared as he too tried to pick up some scent or another that stood out from the rest, but he finally just shook his head.
“I’ve been out of the city too long,” he admitted. “I can’t smell anything over the reek of oil and gasoline.”
“He wouldn’t do that, Ragenard! There has to be another explanation. Didn’t he go running with you all earlier? Maybe he thought he smelled something and searched it out and then tried to call for someone to pick him up … for uhh… whatever reason that he couldn’t…” Aimee trailed off, knowing that was an absolutely stupid idea. No, something was going on, she just didn’t want to believe her father was bad. Her voice was soft, eyes red as she fought to keep from crying, bothered by the notion of her father turning on them… his family.
Snow nodded, walking to the curb near the payphone and crouching to seek out the spot where Jacques was collected. He paused as Aimee spoke, glancing over his shoulder. “Nobody’s jumping to conclusions,” he said calmly. “For all we know, he called a cab. We’re here to figure out what happened, not to speculate before we know.”
After a few more moments, he rose, sniffing the air a few times. “I have something…” he hesitated. “Clean car. Can still smell the soap on it, and…”
He trailed off, straightening. His expression had darkened. “I can smell their freak, Ragenard. Jason was here.”
“Freak?” Draaven asked with a glance to Snow. He was working quickly to fill in his missing gaps of knowledge.
Snow nodded. “Didn’t show up until after you’d left. Rowan’s new second. He’s stronger than he has any right to be, and smells like … I’m not even sure. Something fucked up. Marc isn’t the first one of us he’s killed.”
Meanwhile an ominous low growl vibrated out of Ragenard’s throat as he rushed to bend next to the curb where Snow was standing. He could smell the scent of three people. He recognized Jacques, and overpowering the others was what he now knew to be the scent of their freaky puppy—and may whatever god he prayed to help him if Ragenard caught him—but underneath it all...faintly and almost imperceptibly, was a scent he recognized.
He rose slowly, sniffing around repeatedly, wishing he was wrong. He turned to look at Snow, hazel eyes fully yellow except for a handful of pinpricks of electric blue upon his right eye.
“Motherfucker...mother...fucker. He got in a car with Rowan and Jason. He called Rowan. He’s our traitor,” exclaimed Ragenard, giving Aimee a pensive look. He was torn on whether to send her back to the Med Center or not. Send them all back. He could feel the rage slowly cycling up, his skin itching to turn so he could go on a rampage straight to Audrieu.
At that point, nothing was making sense to Aimee. While she heard their words, her mind absolutely refused to believe them. No way would her father betray them. No way in hell would he do that to the pack. He was probably trying to call for help and they caught him. Right? Biting on her bottom lip, she squared her shoulders back a little, staring hard at Ragenard. “Wait, just wait a minute. We don’t know for certain that’s what happened here. Why would he come to the Den and attempt to kill Sasha and the others if he was working with Rowan? Why wouldn’t he just help them kill the four of us? Wouldn’t that make it easier on the Scions?” Aimee paused, almost squeezing the bridge of her nose before stopping herself.
“What if he was snatched?” Aimee glanced around, desperate to find a struggle, attempting to ignore the truth. No, refusing to believe the truth; that her father would do such a thing.
“Betraying the pack is probably a lot easier for a traitor than killing their own spawn,” he snapped back. It was getting hard to think logically, every point between balls and neck were tingling, and his spine felt like a live wire.
“He always resented never being able to rise to power over me. As long as I was around, he could never be second, and if he couldn’t be second, he’d never be first,” he explained, recalling to mind the altercations of years past, the scars he’d left on Jacques to remind him of his place.
“No pup, your imbecile of a dad finally went over the fence, the only question is whether he did it suicidally or with some moronic plan in mind. I think you should head back to the Med Center now.”
“He didn’t have to kill me. He could have let Sasha finish me. She would have killed me if he hadn’t stepped it.” Her stomach hurt and the angrier Ragenard became, the worse she seemed to feel. What if he was right? What if Jacques did betray them all? Would he do it just because he wasn’t number one or two? That seemed asinine to the teen and pissed her off, especially if that was the truth. Her eyes flashed a little when told to go back to the Med Center, not wanting to be left out of something so important as this.
“Please let me come with you guys. He’s all I have and I need to hear the truth with my own ears. I won’t be in the way, I can’t go back there… not now. Sitting around and waiting it out will drive me crazy,” Aimee pleaded, struggling to keep a clear head with everything rushing through it. It would certainly explain why he was so pissed off that she had been at the Den.
Draaven’s eyes shifted between Aimee and Ragenard as they exchanged words, observing but not engaging. He for the time being seemed to have no stake in the situation. Though he had never been one of the more outspoken of the pack, preferring to keep his thoughts to himself more often than not, he seemed even more detached than days past. His time away from the pack had left him the odd one out, and there was much to learn before he was truly home again.
Snow, too, was largely silent for the duration of Aimee and Ragenard’s back and forth. It was only on Aimee’s insistence on coming along that he looked up from the road and over at her. “There are some things you don’t need to see,” he said, keeping his voice calm and measured, though despite his best efforts an edge of the cold anger brewing beneath the surface still came through. “You don’t want to be here when we get our hands on him.”
“Would you be capable of standing still while I tear out the heart of our family’s betrayer?” snarled Ragenard towards Aimee. “Because that’s a very likely scenario. He’s your father, and you want to believe a scenario that makes it all fit in with your image of him,” he spat in disgust before pressing on. “But if you come along, you’d have to face the likely reality. That your father’s actions led to the deaths of those he claimed were family, and that his reasoning might have been no more than petty greed.”
Ragenard began to pace in a tight line, hands clenching and unclenching as reason sought to depart him, and the beast sought to take over. Jacques. Sure, they’d had their differences, often and loudly. But despite it all, there were times when he could call him family. Times when he risked his life for his.
“If you come with us Aimee, you might be forced to make a choice,” he stated grimly. “The pack, or your sire. Do you think you’d be capable of making the right choice? Because the wrong one would mean you’re not one of us, just like he is.”
For the first time in her life, or at least for the first time in the last few years, Aimee truly listened to Snow and Ragenard’s concerns about the situation. Usually the nineteen-year-old just brushed off the words of anyone as nonsense, but that was generally due to her state of mind. She was clear headed and that was probably helping her listen and think before just spouting off like a pup. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her dark hair, knowing Snow was right. There were things she didn’t need to see, but sometimes those things did need to be seen despite how terrifying they were.
Her gaze shifted over towards Ragenard and she continued to be silent, letting him say everything that needed to be said. There was an unsettling truth to his words and Aimee was struggling with her thoughts, not wanting to be dishonest towards any of them anymore. She had done enough of that in her short life and was tired of being a complete and total fuckup. But, could she? Could she stand by and watch them destroy the man that raised her after her mother had been gunned down? Inhaling deeply before releasing the breath slowly, attempting to ignore both the anger coming from Ragenard and Snow, Aimee flexed her fingers of her good hand, shoulders rolling back.
“Those that died were MY family too. Those that are hurt are my family. Yes, Jacques is my blood father and yes… he raised me mostly… but a lot of the pack helped too. I don’t know what crawled into his mind to make him betray everyone, but he betrayed me too, Ragenard. I understand the choice I ultimately must make and despite the hurt it might bring… the pack will be my choice. I’m not a pup anymore… hard decisions must be made every day and it’s time for me to stop being sheltered and start facing what a shitty reality we live in.” Releasing a shaky breath, Aimee glanced up at the sky, realizing she didn’t even know her father anymore.
“I don’t even know him anymore, Ragenard… the father I knew wouldn’t betray his family. Sure, I am trying to squish him into the image I had of him, but I’m also not naïve. Point is… I want to come.”
Ragenard paused in his pacing to intently stare at Aimee. After about half a minute, he nodded tersely. “Alright Aimee, we’ll see if you’re ready to see our shitty world with grown up eyes,” he said with a sigh. With a supreme effort of willpower, he sunk his anger deep down, saving it for when it actually needed to be used.
“If he’s alive when we find him, I’ll question him first, he can’t lie to me,” he directed towards Snow. “If what he says conforms to our suspicions, you can take charge of cleaning the stain on our family if you want,” he finished, walking past Snow towards Draaven, pausing briefly to rest a quick hand on the Annarian’s shoulder.
“As for you, Drae, you don’t have to be here for this. Sucks that the city is giving you such an abject lesson in shit never changing, but some of it never does,” Ragenard said with a poignant nod.
“If you don’t want in on this shit, you can head back to the Med Center, no question’s asked. I won’t think of you less for not wanting to deal with the kind of shit you tried to put behind, at least not until you’ve decided you’re truly back in.”
“I decided I was back the moment I set foot in this city again,” Draaven replied. “I’ve been gone long enough.”
Snow, in the meantime, just nodded. If Jacques was the one that had betrayed them, the reason the Scions had shown back up in time to kill Nieve, then he would pay for it. Justice in blood. It would be how she would have wanted it, and he was quietly glad that he could be the one to deliver it. It wasn’t closure - that wouldn’t come until the vampire that killed her was broken on the ground in front of him - but it was a step towards it. It would do for now.
Meanwhile, Aimee’s phone buzzed in her pocket. The number was a local number, but not one which she would recognize.
Arching her brow, Aimee glanced down towards her pocket before sliding her fingers in, grabbing out her phone. Glancing at the number, she glanced towards the others before sliding to accept the call despite not knowing the number. “This is Aimee.” She spoke softly, unsure who would be calling her from an unknown number.
“Err… umm… that depends.” Aimee squeezed the bridge of her nose, sighing hard, it clear that she was most definitely talking to someone else on the other end.
Ragenard arched an eyebrow at Aimee before quickly moving closer to her. It was clear from the confusion on her face that it wasn't a call she was expecting.
He hovered near enough for his hearing to pick up the voice on the other end and quietly motioned for her to continue.
Feeling Ragenard moving close towards her, Aimee nodded towards him, waiting for her father to continue. What she heard instead was a series of pained sounds that made her wonder if they were really wrong about him. Frowning a little, she ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled deeply, fighting to keep her heart rate normal. She wasn’t sure what was going on, only that the labored breathing was not a good sign.
“Just listen, okay?” Jacques voice cracked through the phone. The words that came next were rushed and spilled out almost too quickly to follow. “I messed up. Tell them I didn’t say shit.”
The line immediately emitted an ear splitting and unidentifiable crackling pop before going immediately dead.
Aimee nodded at his words before remembering he couldn’t see her head. She did what he asked though and remained silent for once in her life. Her bottom lip soon made its way between her teeth and she gnawed on it while listening as close as possible. Nothing prepared her for what came next and she snapped her gaze towards Ragenard before looking back away again, grasping the phone tightly. He messed up? Didn’t say shit? Hissing at the jarring sound, she squeezed the phone tighter.
“DAD?!” JACQUES?!” Aimee shouted into the phone, trying to get him back. Flipping through the call log, she hit the button, trying to call the number back but it wouldn’t go through.
“Don't bother kid,” Ragenard said woodenly. “He’s either dead or will be in a minute.” With a grown, Ragenard set to consider his options.
From Jacques last words, it seemed like his guess was right on the money, same age old story played out again. He certainly hadn't been the only idiot throughout their history to try to switch sides, but maybe he died on the right one.
It was a gamble, but he'd have to take it, he couldn't be everywhere at once.
Ragenard pulled up his phone and quickly sent a message to Desmond, quickly letting him know what he'd do and to keep a lookout just in case.
“We can't let the police find a dead one of ours in Scion turf so soon after the casino,” he exclaimed. “Last thing we want is taskforces and shit being organized if they think they got a gangwar active.” Ragenard shook his head as he glanced at Aimee, sad that he'd have to be so callous, but that was the life.
“Alright, we gotta go take care of Jacques’ body, which is what we'll probably find. Draaven, go with Aimee back to the Center and grab something we can stuff a stiff in,” he called out before moving to stand next to Snow.
“You and me will follow the trail ahead, if you think you need to shift, give your stuff to Drae, otherwise lead on.”
“No! Damn it, no! He isn’t going to die! We have to go save him. I can’t lose him too!” Aimee was borderline hysterical, knowing that Ragenard was right, but ultimately refusing to believe that her father had been killed by Scion scum. She squeezed her phone tightly before shoving it into her pocket, knowing that it would do no good to repeatedly try to call that number back. It took every ounce of her strength to keep from crying, though she couldn’t stop a few tears from streaming down her cheeks.
At that moment, Aimee knew without a doubt that she would get revenge on the Scions and kill as many as she could for everything they had done to her family… her pack. For now, she had to focus on the orders she had been given, her gaze shifting warily towards Draaven before letting out a shuddering breath. “Fucking Scion scum… I want blood.” Aimee growled out, making it clear that she wanted to be able to get her revenge, healed or not.