Chapter 16-After Effects

Adrian caught Roe as she fell. "What the hell?" He said aloud. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed in his room. He gently placed her on the bed and took her shoes off for her.

"What the hell what?" Shane asked from his room.

"Roe just fainted."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not sure. How long did it take her to cast that spell on you?"

"What spell?"

"Damn it, Shane. You and your wolf need to talk to each other. I need to know what happened when she healed you, and your wolf was in control then. You need to ask him how long it took her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just ask Shadow. He'll know what I'm talking about."

"How'd you know I call my wolf Shadow?" Shane asked, suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"He told Roe. Now, talk to him. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with her, and I need information from him. And don't tell me that you can't, because I know you can." Adrian snapped, impatiently.

"Fine." Shane replied sullenly.

"Let me know what he says."

"All right." Shane grumped. "Then will you tell me what's going on?"

"I'll tell you as much as I know, which isn't a lot. Roe's the one that's been awake the longest, and knows what's going on. She didn't want to tell me what had been happening until after you were back to yourself, so she could tell us both at the same time."

"So you really don't know what's been happening?"

"Only the last couple of hours, and we've been here for a while. And, no, I don't know where we are."

"Okay. Give me a minute, and I'll tell you what he says."

"Sure, but try to hurry."

Adrian sat on the edge of the bed and watched Roe sleep while Shane communicated with his wolf. He was worried about what had caused Roe to collapse, but he thought he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

"Adrian." Shane called out.

"Yes?"

"Shadow said it took her a while to finish the spell. He said that before she began, she was talking like it was only going to take a few seconds, but it was a lot longer than that. She took twice as long around our head area than she did on the rest of us. He also said that she looked drained when she finally finished, but he was having a hard time talking with my body so he didn't ask her about it."

"That's what I thought. I think she exhausted herself doing that spell, and running around trying to take care of us."

"Take care of us?"

"Yes, she dug a bullet out of each of us, then fed us both. She's also been running interference between us and the guards and trying to keep them from drugging us. She talked to your wolf and healed you, even after he tried to bite her."

"Yeah, he told me about that." Shane said regretfully.

"She's not mad about it, not since she found out it was him and that you two don't communicate well with each other."

"We never have."

"If we're going to get out of here, you need to start talking to him. He's part of you and may be able to think of things that we can't."

"I know, but it's not that easy."

"I realize that." Adrian said. "Vampires have to reconcile the humanlike outside, and the monster inside too."

"Really?"

"Of course. Why do you think we have rogues too? They haven't balanced themselves and their vampire."

"So, you're two pieces, also? Like we're human and wolf, you're human and vampire?"

"Not exactly. You and your wolf have to share your body and work together. If you're not present when you're in wolf form, your wolf is in total control and wreaks havoc. If he's not present when you're in control, you're basically human and don't have any extra senses. Am I correct?"

"Yeah. How's that relate to vampires?"

"Well, we have to have balance too. If the monster takes over too much, we cause massive destruction, but if we ignore the monster we don't know when to feed and get weak. If we refuse to let it out for too long, it will take over without our consent. But unlike you, we can't communicate with the animal inside of us."

"I didn't know that."

"Not many people do. We try not to advertise the fact that starving us can cause us to go crazy."

"I can understand that. I wouldn't want everybody to know that, either."

"I guess we should try to get some rest while Roe's still out of it. Then we'll all be awake and ready at the same time."

"Sounds good to me. I think I've still got some wolfsbane in my system because I can't shift. Although the fact that the chains are silver doesn't help any."

"Can you shift in silver chains?"

"Most wolves can't. With me, it depends on how much silver there is around me."

"So, if you didn't have the wolfsbane in your system, could you shift and get out of the chains?"

"Maybe. I haven't tried it with chains on both my arms and legs, so I don't know."

"All right. We can try it later, after we're sure the wolfsbane is out of your system."

"Okay." Shane said, then they both tried to sleep.

Roe woke up slowly with a groan. My head hurts. Where am I? What happened? She rolled over in the bed and tried to sit up. Suddenly there was an arm wrapped around her, helping her up. She jerked her head around and saw Adrian was on the bed with her. She relaxed into his arm.

"Sorry for startling you. I didn't want you to fall and hurt yourself." He said.

"Thanks. What happened?"

"You fainted after healing Shane."

"How is he?"

"Shane?" Adrian spoke loudly to wake him up.

"Yeah?" Shane replied groggily.

"Roe wants to know how you are."

"She's awake?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes." Roe answered him herself. I haven't heard Shane excited about anything before now. Not that there's really been anything to be excited about.

"I'm better." Shane told her.

"I'd say so, you're you again instead of your wolf."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I feel better being me. How are you feeling?"

"I'm still kinda tired, and my head hurts, but other than that I'm okay."

"Are you feeling up to telling us what's been going on?" Adrian asked her.

Roe sighed. "Yeah, give me just a minute. I need to release Shane enough for him to come in here, you both need to see if there's any more undrugged food in the fridges and eat. I also need to see about making a list of stuff we need, so they can start working on it while we talk."

"Okay." Adrian replied. "I'll check and see what I can find in the refrigerator in here."

"You need to eat too." Shane reminded her.

"Okay. After I get everything else done."

Adrian scowled at her.

"I'll make me a sandwich then come sit in here and we'll talk." Roe said. "But I have to do the other things first." She got up from the bed, walked into Shane's room and released the locking mechanism on his chains so he could walk around as much as he wanted to.

"Thanks." He told her as he walked toward the bathroom. "I'll check the fridge in here in just a minute."

"Okay." Roe said as she walked through her room and into the bathroom. After she had used the bathroom and washed her hands, she walked over to the refrigerator in her room and looked in it. There's still meat, cheese, and drinks in here. Not a wonderful selection, but it's food. I don't think I need anything, except a shower. I stink. I guess I'll do that after I catch the guys up on what's been going on. "Do either of y'all need anything? How're the supplies in the fridges doing?" She called out.

"I could use some blood that's not drugged."

"Same thing in here. But meat, not blood."

"Do you want something other than raw meat?"  Roe asked Shane.  "There's no way to cook anything in here."

"It would be nice."

"There's stuff to make sandwiches in here. Will that work for you too?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Okay." Roe replied. "Anything else you can think of?"

"No, not really."

"No."

"Okay." Roe replied as she wrote the note for the guards. I can't think of anything we need, either. I saw shampoo and stuff while I was using the bathroom, so I don't need that. Hmm, I wonder how the guys are supposed to shower with those leg chains on since they can't get their pants off. More than likely, they don't intend them to, or they didn't think about it.

Shane walked into her room. "Have you fixed yourself a sandwich yet?"

"No, I was about to." She replied as she walked over to the door and slipped the note under it.

"Go sit down, I'll make you one and bring it to you." Shane told her, opening the refrigerator.

"Oh, okay." Roe stood by the door hesitantly.

"Go in Adrian's room. That's where he is and sit down on the bed. I'll be in there in a minute. You still need more rest." He said, putting ingredients on the cabinet top.

"Okay...why do you think I need more rest?"

"You're paler than you were when we met."

"Really?"

"Yes. You are." Adrian broke in. "Come in here and let him make your sandwich."

"Oh, okay." Roe said, then walked into the other room with Adrian.

Adrian and Roe sat down on the bed.

"You can go ahead and start." Shane said. "I can still hear you from in here."

"Okay. I'm going to just hit the highlights. I'm not sure how much time we have. I can fill in any blanks later."

"Time we have before what?" Shane asked.

"Let me tell you what's happened so far, then you'll understand what I mean."

"Okay."

"As you know, we were taken by Savage, under the command of a Major Marsden. I met with the Major as soon as I woke up."

"Woke up?" Shane asked, as he walked into the room and handed Roe her sandwich.

"They tranquilizer darted me, after they shot y'all. I woke up in here, and the doors were all locked. While I was seeing Major Marsden, they unlocked the doors to your rooms." She told them, then started eating.

"Oh, okay."

"So, what did the Major have to say?" Adrian asked.

"He told me that he had a job for me. I'm supposed to take care of y'all, feed you, and..." Roe paused and took a deep breath. "He wants me to get y'all to make him a hybrid, half werewolf and half vampire."

"He wants what?" Shane exclaimed.

"What?" Adrian asked, stunned.

"Yeah. I was floored when he said that. He's going to send some humans in here for y'all to experiment on at some point."

"Seriously?" Shane asked, incredulously.

"He has lost his mind." Adrian said, shaking his head. "It's not possible, people have tried over and over and still haven't managed to do it."

"I know." Roe said. "I think he's lost his mind too. That's one reason I have tried so hard to make them believe that I'm nothing special. They have no idea what I am."

"That's a good thing." Adrian said. "I didn't understand the gravity of the situation when you told me that the first time."

"It's okay. I was worried that they'd separate us if they knew what I was. Either that or try to make me combine y'all somehow."

"If Major Marsden's gone this crazy, there's no telling what he might do." Shane agreed.

"I also found out that they have an inside guy at PBI who's feeding them information on us. They called him Jack."

"Does he know what you are?"

"When I heard the conversation about him, he had told these guys that according to his boss, I was human. The guards here think he's an idiot, but believed what his boss had said about me. But I don't know how long that will last if his boss is Special Agent Maitland, like I think he is."

Adrian and Shane looked at each other. "Anything else?" Adrian asked.

"I believe that there's also a mole in Joe's pack, though I have no proof and no idea who it could be."

"That would explain how the PBI found us so fast." Adrian said thoughtfully.

"Are you sure it's not Joe?" Shane asked her.

"Yes. I'm sure." Roe said. I was expecting that question. "Joe's like a father to me, and it's going to hurt him to know that someone he trusts is ratting him out."

"Yeah. It would kill my father if it happened to him." Shane commented.

"I'm not looking forward to telling Joe about it. Plus I've got to find proof before I tell him. I don't want to tell him something like that, and be wrong about it." Roe said, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't either." Shane agreed.

"I can't think of anything else I need to tell you right now.  We need to start working on a plan to get out of here and I really need a shower. Preferably the shower comes first, then I can put a spell around this room so nobody can hear what's going on in here, even if they open the hallway door."

"Hallway door?"  Shane asked.

"The door I slipped the list under opens into a hallway.  They took me out it when they took me to see Marsden, but I didn't see a door that looked like it led outside."

"Good to know." Adrian commented.

"There's a guard here, named Boudreau.  If you see him, keep an eye on him.  There's something about him that I just can't figure out."

"Like what?"  Adrian asked.

"I'm really not sure, I may even be imagining it. He's the only one who's been nice to me."

"Is it a good something or a bad something?"  Shane asked.

"I'd say a good something, like he may be helpful in escaping, but I'm not sure at this point."

Bang! Bang!  Bang!  They all turned to look at the hallway door, where the noise was coming from, then looked at each other.

"I guess someone wants my attention."  Roe said.  "I'd better go see what they want."  She walked into her room and over to the door. "Yes?" She called out.