Spirit Eaters 02, The Pack

Anticipation and excitement vibrated the air. The feeling was so tangible, Rebecca felt like her teeth were swimming in her skull. Her skin tingled and her bones hummed. She leaned against the back end of a green mustang, grinning broadly. She scanned the crowd, watching people migrate towards the football stadium. The first trick of the night would be to scam three tickets. Then, once inside, they could lose themselves in the crowd, picking pockets and swiping food unnoticed until too late.

Rebecca crossed her arms across her belly and realized that she no longer was concerned about the ethics of petty theft. She couldn't quite figure out how that happened. When she and Georgia first raided a crowd, it had been out of desperation. They had both been starving, new to the streets, and hunger was a driving need. Rebecca wondered if the changes she had gone through had affected the way she saw herself fitting into society as a whole. She knitted her brow as she realized she didn't feel like she belonged to the people of the crowd. They were others, while Georgia and Sarah were part of a small group she considered "us".

The feeling of being stared at washed over her. She looked up and around, only to see Georgia standing twenty cars down with her hands stiffly down by her side, facing forward. It was her impatient and annoyed stance, and it made Rebecca smile. She snapped out of her reverie and met Georgia's eyes. Georgia relaxed into her pursed-lip, wide-eye, "are we ready?" expression. Rebecca nodded, glancing towards Sarah, who was in wolf form, hiding underneath a van behind Georgia.

Sarah's involvement made this so much easier. Rebecca could be the lookout, while Georgia haggled. Sarah, being small and fast, would snatch the tickets from the hands of the scalper and take off. Georgia, acting all angry, would storm off before the scalper could accuse her of some kind of complicity.

The ethics of the situation still nagged at Rebecca, though. What really bothered her was that she was not bothered by the stealing. This confused her.. Sarah had always lived like this, though without the cooperation of others, and Georgia was just too self-centered to consider how their activities might affect their targets.

The feeling of being watched still lingered in the back of Rebecca's neck, but Georgia was looking at her mark, a scalper moving through the crowd, looking for buyers. Sarah was watching Georgia. Rebecca scanned the moving crowd once more and saw a young man staring at her. Beside him, an older woman, maybe early thirties, was scanning the crowd in Georgia's direction. As soon as Rebecca laid eyes on her, the woman stared back. The woman then looked at the young man, saw him staring, then slapped him on the back of his head, jarring him.

Rebecca quickly looked away and stared at Georgia. When Georgia met her eyes, Rebecca passed an open hand across her face, indicating trouble, that they should fade into the crowd. Georgia was near a large pack of fraternity brothers, all loud and boisterous. She slipped into the group and disappeared from Rebecca's sight. Rebecca looked for Sarah, but the little wolf was already gone.

Rebecca felt very exposed. There was only a few people near her, and nobody between her and the two strangers. She felt a presence behind her, somebody watching her, and she bolted. She ran across the open space to another row of cars. As she ran, she pulled off t-shirt, getting a few hoots from college men who were watching. When she was between two cars, she shifted, dropped to all fours in wolf form, and slipped out of her skirt and sandals. She ran hard and fast, weaving between parked cars and groups of people, startling a few people here and there, but she was gone before they could fully react.

She headed out of the parking lot to where she left her backpack and spare clothes. It was secluded, so she would be able to change and dress without drawing attention, but her heart wouldn't slow down. Even as she pushed through the doors to the all night coffee shop across High Street from the main campus, she was breathing fast and feeling paranoid.

"What happened?" asked Georgia, not sure whether to be angry or frightened. She was standing next to a small high table near the back corner of the shop. Sarah was quietly sitting on a stool next to Georgia.

"Someone was watching us," said Rebecca. "A young man and an older woman."

"Police?" asked Georgia.

"Others," said Sarah, watching Rebecca's face.

"You think it was others like us?" asked Rebecca. "That would explain a few things."

"Like what," asked Georgia.

"Like how they can look right through you, into you," said Sarah, staring at nothing.

"It felt like they didn't care what we were doing, just that we were doing it in their presence," said Rebecca.

"This is their territory," said Sarah.

"Funny," said Georgia, "This never happened before." She glanced at Sarah.

"A few things happened tonight that never happened before," said Rebecca, thinking of her ethical doubts.

"What is that supposed to mean," said Georgia, deciding angry was the way to go.

"Where are your clothes, Rebecca?" asked Sarah.

"I changed out of them," said Rebecca, her eyes widening, "In the parking lot."

"So what!?" exclaimed Georgia.

Sarah and Rebecca looked around the room to see if anyone had caught Georgia's outburst, but what they saw was a young man, the young man from the parking lot walking by the window. He stopped suddenly and looked directly at Rebecca, then at Sarah. A young woman that had been following him bumped into him before she realized he wasn't moving. She pushed, but he swept her aside with an arm, drawing an angry glare from her. Then, she cocked her head to one side and looked through the window and saw what the young man was looking at.

"We need to leave, now," said Rebecca. She saw the young man lift the skirt she had left behind and sniff it. Then he was hurrying towards the door with the young woman following close behind.

Sarah was already in wolf form, leaving the loose cloths on the floor by the stool. No one seemed to notice. They did notice Georgia, who had finally caught on and was second through the door to the pantry of the coffee shop. Rebecca was not far behind. In the pantry, Georgia and Rebecca undressed, stashed their clothes in an empty box and shifted to wolf form.

They all bolted through an air vent with a missing grill. This had all been worked out in advance, but they never thought they would need to follow the plan. The vent opened up in the storage room, which had a door to the back alley.
Rebecca came through the door at a full sprint and bolted left into the shadows of the alley, slamming hard into the chest of a large man. He didn't budge until Georgia collided with Rebecca's back and ricocheted to the ground. Rebecca stepped back, but the man grabbed her upper arms with powerful, calloused hands. Panic kick-started Rebecca's heart and she tensed, trying to pull away, out of the man's grip. He squeezed in and up and she found herself lifted off her feet. The knot in her stomach sapped her energy and her legs stopped kicking.

Georgia recovered her wits enough to realize that staying motionless was the safest course of action. She could see the young, rough looking man and serious faced woman behind the big man holding Rebecca. All three held an air of danger around them. She didn't flinch when two young, panting wolves burst from the doorway, tails wagging and tongues hanging out.

"Where is the little one?" asked the serious woman as she stepped out of the shadows.

The larger wolf let out a quick whine and tilted his head to one side.

"The little one!" said the women. "You were chasing three girls!"

The smaller wolf sat back on her haunches and transformed into a young woman in sneakers, jeans and a leather jacket with nothing underneath. She drew her knees to her chest, rested her hands on her knees, and dropped her jaw onto her hands.

The larger wolf snorted and looked back the way they had come.

"Filter, I'm sorry, but I don't remember seeing her," said the young woman, looking up at the serious woman. "Jangles got a jump start and all I saw was his ass end."

The wolf named Jangles glared at his companion and growled low.

"Then he drove the hunt," said Filter, unrelenting, "But you, Singe, should have been eyeing the possible escape routes and shadows. If you can't see forward, look to the sides."

Singe dropped her gaze shamefully and stared at the ground near her feet.

The rough looking man stepped forward to stand next to the big man. He was lean and wiry, almost skinny. His eyes and cheeks had a faint sunken look. He never met anyone eye to eye, even when he spoke.

He looked at the big man's forearms and said, "You can let her go, Fen. I don't think she is going anywhere." The words seemed more for Rebecca's benefit, a hint of a threat, like no one would be stupid enough to try to escape.

In a blink of a moment, Georgia shifted into wolf form and raced between the wall and the woman called Filter. Georgia found herself pinned between Filter and the wall. Filter drove her knife so deep between Georgia's ribs, it punctured a lung. Georgia gasped raggedly in pain and fear, clinging to consciousness.

Filter stood up and glanced back. "Rope, I don't think this one is too bright." Filter stood up and stepped away from Georgia. The wound wasn't immediately fatal, but it would be a while before Georgia would breathe normally. In between coughing fits, she whined pathetically.

"You can put me down, Fen," said Rebecca, confidently. "I'm not going anywhere."

Rope heard the echo of his own words. "Are you mocking me, girl?" he asked, more curious than threatening. His gaze swung towards her, missing her shoulder by a breath.

"No, sir," said Rebecca, respectfully. She looked into his eyes, but he still did not meet her gaze. "I have a better tactical understanding of the situation than my companion."

Rope's lips tightened slightly, giving the impression of a faint smile. He looked at Fen's feet and nodded. "She's alright, Fen." The large man set Rebecca down and released her from his grip.

Rebecca made an effort not to rub her sore arms. There was no damage and the soreness would go away quickly. She glanced around at her captors, then looked at Georgia laying against the wall. The bleeding had already stopped.

"Call me Rebecca," she said, shifting her gaze between Filter and Rope.