HOWL (rewritten)

25 - Conspiracy Theories

--No-one's Pov--

Emilia marked off the days on the flower calendar that hung on her wall. Christmas passed a few days ago and she was upset that they didn't spend much time with each other. Mostly because Blake's girlfriend was still in the hospital and their mom worked late.

She ended up eating dinner with Billie and her family the day before Christmas Eve since they were going to a family get together. Billie asked her what she wanted for Christmas on one of their dates but she couldn't answer that, not because she didn't want to but she didn't know what exactly she wanted that would be possible to get.

She wanted her best friend back.

The only thing she said to Billie was "surprise me", and that's what her girlfriend did when she gave her a garnet-diamond bracelet (since garnet was her birthstone). Emilia felt bad since all she got Billie was a really soft red blanket but she reassured her that it was okay. That it was nice to just spend time with her.

Then there was her father.

She hadn't seen him in so long, and the last thing she remembers of him is how he rushed out of the house nearly 13 years ago when she was six. She remembers the panicked look on his face as the door closed behind him. Though she couldn't recall when they spent time together. The only thing she could barely remember was from the picture that sat on a shelf with years of dust built onto it.

Her text notification echoed through the silence of her room, a message from Blake saying Macy was doing better than before lighting up the screen. She put in a quick reply and sent it, turning the screen off as she looked at the only picture she had of her father. It was when she was four and he took her to the zoo for her birthday and he decided it was a good idea to get a photo in front of the tiger exhibit.

Her phone went off again, this time being the set notification sound for Billie whenever she texted her. She looked at the message, 'how are you feeling today?', a slight smile on her face as she began her reply.

Across the street, Billie sat on the couch watching as Emilia started typing only to stop. This process repeated a few times as Finneas cleared his throat from the other couch. She looked up at him and shrugged, "what?"

"Any update on Blake's girlfriend?"

"She's awake." She replied, looking back at her screen as Emilia started typing again.

He sat up, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at her. "You know what I mean."

"Next full moon is next month, you know this...Krista says she's healing pretty quick."

Finneas slowly nodded and leaned back against the couch. A few days prior, Krista came to them with the half-breed's file, confirming their suspicions that she was working with the Nightwatch. She told Maggie she'd try to keep them in the loop regarding Macy but between Ivan and her job it'd be difficult for her.

After what Tara said to Billie he knew they could trust Krista. She had so many opportunities to report them and have them killed but she didn't. He looked at Billie, and said something that's been on his mind.

"With what Krista showed us, what if Bryn was adopted by a human?"

Billie quickly glanced at him then back at her phone. "What if she was?"

"Well surely I'd be freaked out if I went half wolf when I turned 16."

Billie stopped texting, looking up from her phone and spacing out when she remembered something Emilia told her. "You said sixteen..."

"Am I missing something?"

"Tara's sister, Ali, turns sixteen next month."

Finneas shook his head as he grabbed his phone. "What day?"