Black Rose

2.

DAY 4:

"Rayne should be here any minute," I announced to Badge who was in the bathroom, the door creaked open slightly. I was furiously combing through my hair. I must have had a good night's sleep because when I woke up this morning, my hair was all over the place.

"'Kay," I heard him respond, clearly distracted by something else.

I hadn't thought of a way for Rayne to find the others. I barely knew what my powers could do, so how was I expected to try and figure out what hers could do too? But I wasn't going to panic. Rayne is smart. I'm sure she figured out something. And if she didn't...then we could figure it out together. There was a small part of me that had faith in us.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Quickly, I reached for it and read the caller ID. The number was unfamiliar. I had a gut feeling to answer it anyway. "Hello?"

"Tatum!" It was Hannah's voice on the other end.

"Hannah!" I exclaimed. "Why haven't you called me?! I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry," She apologized. "Things have been crazy here."

Badge peeked his head out the bathroom. I motioned for him to come over to me. "What's happened?" I asked her. Badge strode across the room, and sat beside me. I put the phone on speaker, even though I'm sure he could have heard it just fine.

"Your dad has filed two missing persons reports. The whole town and the towns surrounding are looking for you and your mom. And what's worse, people have noticed that Badge is missing too. Talk is already beginning to circulate that he has something to do with this. They called Sue in this morning to question her. They questioned me yesterday."

"What did you tell them?!" Now I was beginning to panic.

"I said that I hadn't seen or heard from you since the night of the hunt. I had to get this stupid burner phone so I can ditch it that way they don't trace the calls. Ryder gave me the number of the phone you're using."

Hannah literally thinks of everything. "Has my dad come to you and asked you anything about Badge?" I questioned.

"Actually, he was over here the night that you left. Once he realized that you and your mom were both missing. He asked me if I knew where you two were, and if it had anything to do with Badge."

Badge and I exchanged a look. "The night of the hunt, my dad saw Badge turn."

"What?!" She gasped.

"My dad shot him, and Badge turned back. He knows what he can do now. He might even...he might even try to expose him and the others. I know I'm asking a lot, but I need you to work with the other shapeshifters and make sure that no one finds out. If the police continue to ask questions, get a story straight. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about us here. We'll take care of it. How's everything going on there? I got your messages. Speaking of which, don't call my cell phone, Tatum. They'll see it in my records if they decide to look, and they're watching us like hawks here. Wait for me to call you."

"Okay," I said, nodding my head. "And we found Rayne. She's going to help us. She should be here any minute so we can figure out where we need to head to next."

I heard Hannah take a deep breath. "Good."

There was a knock at the door. "Hey, Han, I have to go now. Thank you so much for covering for me! And, I'm sorry I've brought you into this! Please stay safe." I departed before hanging up the phone. "Oh, man," I sighed, covering my forehead with my hand. "This is bad. This is bad," I repeated as I got up from the bed and headed into the living room, opening up the door and finding Rayne on the other side.