Seeing Red

Chapter 5

Grace White looked like she was absolutely terrified, but when we made eye contact, she went from looking terrified to looking to relieved and happy at the same time. I practically hopped down the entire staircase so that I could hug her.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" I said as Grace hugged me back.

"Scarlet, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you!" said Grace, "Some of those things came charging into the cafe and threatened me,I thought I was going to die!"

"You would have if I hadn't come in." said the woman that had been next to Lisa, an older-looking woman wearing a black tank top and gray sweatpants, "Those wolves had been sent to kill anyone with Scarlet's scent on them, on Gwen's orders."

"Yeah, you still haven't told me who that is, Lisa." said Grace.

"Oh, you're Lisa?" I said. The woman nodded, then I turned to Grace, who I had just noticed was carrying a bag with her.

"I can tell you everything while we're setting you up in the guest room." I said, "You can follow me."

"We can go too!" said Simon, "We should all get to know each other while we have the opportunity!"

Lisa looked like she'd rather not, but she didn't say anything as the four of us went back up the stairs and into the guest room.

"This one's mine," I said, motioning to one of the beds, "So you can have one of the others."

"I'll take this one," said Grace, moving to the bed that was next to mine. She must have noticed the look on my face, since when she looked back at us, she said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

"Hey, I'm okay with it." I said.

"So... who's Gwen?" Grace asked as she sat down on her bed, "I feel like I've heard that name before."

"Maybe I've mentioned her once or twice," I said, "But Gwen was a counselor at the werewolf camp. She and I... we..."

I really didn't like thinking about my experiences with Gwen, or any kind of relationship we had or she thought we had, since all of those memories had been so tainted.

"She liked me. A lot," I said, "I didn't return it. Now she wants me dead."

"Sounds like a psycho ex-girlfriend with extra steps." said Grace. Though I chuckled, the horrible fact was that she wasn't that far off.

"Anyway, she's sworn revenge and wants me dead," I said, "Apparently, she also wants to overthrow humanity as well."

"Crap," said Grace, "All because you rejected her?"

"I don't think I'm as important as you think I am," I said, "It's also the fact that three humans managed to escape werewolf clutches, which meant that we were witnesses or something. Maybe Gwen used that to turn everyone to her side."

"That's exactly what she did," said Lisa, "She said that since three humans escaped from them, that meant the entire human race was about to step up and take us all down, so we needed to do it first, take the world from the humans as the apex predators we are."

"Huh." I said, "So that happened, and now she wants to kill you, everyone who I've ever come into contact with, and... I don't really want to think about what she'll do to me if she ever got her hands on me." That thought still made me shiver, and judging by the horrified look that Grace had, she probably had the same idea that I did.

"So, you trust these guys?" Grace asked, motioning her head towards Simon and Lisa, "Who are they to you?"

"This rebellion is being held up by two people who are... very close to me, Mark and Becky." I said.