HOWL: UNCHAINED (rewritten)

8 - Reflection of Self and Mind

A/N just a reminder I have a 23-30 chapter goal for this one, it may come out to 25 chapters but I absolutely CAN'T wait to write the third and final installment, this shit gonna be crazy :)

Possible TW: Threats of offing oneself and internalized hatred 

--No one's Pov--

The entire ride back to the O'Connell house was intense to say the least. Tony kept an eye on Billie, who kept looking around frantically as she shook her head. He was risking enough just being in public, but it was

"Shut up," she whispers.

"How long have you been hearing them Billie?" He asks, trying to spark a conversation to distract her. He turns onto another street, going deeper into the neighborhood.

"A while."

"You know, there was a moment when I was with Rex's pack, before they were-" he sighs, "-anyway. His friends, two of them, went mad. Said they were hearing voices and seeing ghosts. Though, that's where the media gets it wrong, I guess."

He hears her laugh softly.

"Despite being canines," he continues, "we just can't see ghosts. So what you're seeing, I'm sure they saw too."

"I take it they lived happily ever after?" She jokes.

"I'm worried about you, Billie. No alpha deserves to go through this."

"Not an alpha. Just a measly beta." She groans when the two beings in the backseat laugh.

"Maybe you should just kill yourself then," Brandon says.

"Join us in the afterlife, you stupid fucking animal," the camper says.

"Shut up!"

"Alpha or not, no wolf deserves this. Whatever's causing it, I'm sure there's a solution."

"Yeah," she looks at her faint reflection in the car's window and whispers, "the lover's blood, the betrayer's heart and the witch's soul."

He ignored that last part, feeling sorry for everything she was going through, and listened as she told him where her house was. He pulled the car in front of the garage, killing the engine and looked around. A cold shiver goes down his spine.

That energy he felt.

It was breathing down his neck.

"Do you feel that?" He asks her.

"Feel what? All I feel is the ones I've killed stalking my every move," she gets out of the car, nearly slamming the door as she shakes away another threat.

He gets out, cautiously following her as he observes his surroundings, thinking maybe it was a mistake that he brought her home instead of Rex. He sniffed the air, catching only the scents of people he'd once known. Aside from that ominous energy there was nothing to fear for now.

Another chill went down his spine as a faint sigh brushed against his right ear. He turned his head to see what it could have been, watching the leaves roll against the ground with the wind.

The door opens.

"Billie, oh my goodness. Are you alright?" Maggie asks, eyes immediately falling on the man behind her daughter, "Tony?"

"Hello, Mags."

"What's going on?" She asks, ushering them both in and closing the door. She watches Billie rush up the stairs and hears that familiar slam of a door.

"Can we sit?" He asks.

Maggie nods, motioning toward the living room, "yeah." They both sit on the couch. Tony looks around at the well decorated home, a thought coming to mind when there was one absent scent.