Seeing Red

Chapter 7

I never felt as vulnerable as I did when I sat in the back of the SUV with Lloyd behind the wheel up front. I was putting my life on the line - again - and this time, the fate of the country, maybe even the world, was on my shoulders.

Lisa's plan felt a bit like it had been made up as she went along; Lloyd would drive me to the state line as though he were trying to get me out of town as soon as possible. Of course, Gwen wasn't going to be stupid enough to allow something like that to happen, which meant she was going to have some of their own people waiting for anyone coming by. That was when we were going to launch the plan.

"You nervous?" Lloyd asked.

"Extremely, yes." I said, "It's not everyday that I risk my life to bring down a group of werewolves that plan on taking over the human race and... you know, eating them or doing whatever they plan on doing to them."

"Well, no need to worry," said Lloyd, "I'll have your back the whole way."

"How's Courtney?" I asked, "The secretary who came with me. Is she okay?"

"Oh, she's fine," said Lloyd, "I got her to a safe place, and Gwen doesn't see her as a problem, so she should be just fine by the time this is all over."

"Thank god," I said, "I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me."

"If all goes to plan, no one's gonna get hurt anymore, probably," said Lloyd, "I mean, I'll be able to take a couple of bruises if it means shutting Gwen up for good."

"I hear that." I said as Lloyd took a turn on a completely deserted road.

"Have any other towns been attacked by werewolves?" I asked.

"Gwen wants the state first," said Lloyd, "Then she's going to start attacking major cities and go up from there."

I stared out the window as Lloyd's words sunk in, as well as the whole plan I was getting myself into. If everything went as it should, I was about to see her again. I mentally prepared myself for that.

"Any hangups?" Lloyd asked, bringing me out of my own thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I mean, you and Gwen knew each other," said Lloyd, "Becky and Mark told us as much, but they didn't say much, though they probably didn't know much either."

"Well..." I said, "Gwen had... a crush, more like an obsession, on me. I have a couple of guesses why, but nothing concrete. Either way, I'm pretty sure she hates me now, considering the last time we met, I set her on fire and ran her over with a big SUV."

"Whoa, that's badass!" said Lloyd, "Way to go, girl!"

"I don't exactly feel accomplished," I said, "Considering she still wants me dead, or worse, and she's still breathing."

"Well, we can fix that sooner or later," said Lloyd as he turned another corner, "Looks like we're getting close to the town line. Keep an eye out, and let me know if you see anything that might be... problematic."

"Gotcha." I said as I returned to staring out the window. The area we were in was surrounded by trees and woods, perfect camouflage and perfect cover for wolves that were probably stalking us.

"Well, we're getting really close," said Lloyd, "Maybe this is going to be easy?"

Right on cue, the car buckled and there was a loud pop. Lloyd pulled the car to the side of the road as quickly as he could, which was a hell of a bumpy ride; thank god I was wearing my seatbelt.

"You're really good at jinxes, are you a magician along with being a werewolf?" I asked as Lloyd un-clicked his seatbelt.

"Ha ha," said Lloyd, "I'll see what the damage is, but I'm gonna keep the car locked. Don't get out, got me?"