Monsters Are Forever

7. The Distraction

After Mia had spotted Rudi, Anna knew it was time for her to act. She really hadn't wanted to resort to this, but she didn't see what else she could do. So she left Mia and Carmine and headed towards Rudi.

Anna hugged the side of the building, keeping to the shadows. She knew her natural ability to stay hidden would keep Rudi from seeing her until the last possible minute. And the fact that she would probably be more interested in seeing what Mia and Carmine were up to would definitely help too.

Rudi kept following Mia and Carmine, and Anna backtracked to meet up with her. They met in the middle of the block.

"Rudi – nice to see you." Anna said as sweetly as she could, finally stepping into the light.

"Anna! What are you doing here?" Rudi asked, taking an involuntary step back. Anna was almost glad to see that Rudi looked a bit startled, especially with the way she'd been treating Anna's friend.

"I was just out for a walk." Anna shrugged casually. "What about you?"

"Same." Rudi said simply. She tried to peek around Anna, but Anna took a step in the same direction, blocking her view. She placed a light hand on Rudi's shoulder, and Rudi looked up in surprise.

As soon as Rudi made eye contact, Anna was ready. She took a deep breath, willing Rudi to relax. Rudi stood there a minute looking confused, and for a second Anna thought she was going to resist. But she didn't. As her eyes started closing slowly, Anna wondered why she'd ever doubted herself. She'd been doing this way too long to have anyone resist – even a suspicious werewolf.

"Are you ok?" Anna asked gently, hoping the guilt in her voice sounded more like concern. If everything went according to plan, Rudi wouldn't remember any of this. But if she did remember that Anna was there, Anna wanted her to think she'd been caring – worried, even. She didn't want to just transfer suspicion from Mia to herself – she wanted Rudi off their trail altogether.

Rudi gave a dull kind of nod but didn't say anything. Anna kept staring at her, never breaking eye contact. She watched Rudi for a minute more, pretending she was trying to decide what to do. Rudi wobbled, and Anna grabbed her carefully, steadying her.

"You should sit down a minute." Anna said quietly, helping Rudi down to the sidewalk.

Anna knew Rudi was almost completely under, but she still seemed more resistant than most. There was still a slight chance Rudi would remember parts of this after it was all over. Anna decided to make an excuse, in case she needed it for later.

"I'll be right back, ok?" Anna told her. "I'm going to get help."

Rudi gave a slow nod.

"Don't go anywhere, ok?"

Rudi nodded again. But Anna didn't move. She stayed right where she was until Rudi's eyes finally shut.

Once Anna was absolutely sure that Rudi wouldn't be waking up any time soon, she hurried away – back in the direction her friends had gone. She felt a little guilty about leaving Rudi there like that, but she didn't see any other options. She tried to remind herself that if Rudi hadn't been stalking Mia, she wouldn't have been out here in the first place. And Rudi would be more than capable of taking care of herself once she woke up.

As Anna glanced around for her friends, she couldn't help wondering if Carmine was really going to be able to handle Mia if it came down to it. She knew that was why Carmine had offered to take care of Rudi in the first place. And as tempting as it was for Anna to let someone else do it, in her heart she knew that wouldn't be a good idea.

She might have felt guilty doing that to Rudi, but Anna wasn't quite sure Carmine would have been up to it. She was more than willing to help, sure. But Rudi already knew all three of them – this wasn't going to be like their other attacks where just they pretended to be random, anonymous teenagers. Whoever did this would have to make absolutely sure Rudi didn't remember anything that happened – especially not what had actually caused her to pass out. If she did, this whole thing could get so much worse. Carmine didn't really have enough experience yet to do that. Anna wasn't even one hundred percent sure she'd done it right herself – that's why she'd planted those ideas in Rudi's head in the first place.

Anna hurried over to where her two friends were waiting. And she couldn't help but notice the two people lying unconscious at their feet.

"Can I bite him now?" Mia asked.

"Be my guest." Carmine shrugged. Mia turned and hungrily bit down on the man's neck.

"You did that?" Anna asked Carmine, surprised. Maybe she really didn't give Carmine enough credit after all.

"Yeah." Carmine nodded. "I made Mia wait over there."

Anna watched Mia, hoping she wouldn't end up taking the guy's head off.

"Let her have both." Anna told Carmine. "She's going to need it."

"Yeah, I figured." Carmine nodded.

"We'll get our own later." Anna told her.

"Actually, I might just wait until tomorrow." Carmine said, watching Mia with what looked to be more than just concern for her friend. And as Anna turned back to Mia, suddenly she realized Carmine's idea might have been for the best after all. Even Anna – who was more than used to all of this by now – wasn't sure she was going to have the stomach to go out again after this.