They swung open the cage door, cattle prods at full power, humming with electricity. The man lazily lifted his hands in surrender. "Now, now." He said softly. His voice was like velvet. "No need. I'll do as you please." The man in the cage said, his...
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Rat Bones, distasteful of an establishment as it was, was the closest thing Ilaross had to a town hall. Everyone went there to drink, socialize, and post common requests behind the bar. All the residents used it to request meat so that they wouldn't have to go hunting in the dead of winter, when the snows piled deep and the grocery shipments grew few and far between as the roads closed all over the region.
The pack didn't mind it at all. Hunting was a good outlet for the frustrations that often cropped up as a result of living in a small town with little else to do.
Dime wasn't going to Rat Bones to fill orders. He was going to find answers.
If the bar was their town hall, then Ivan Iodina was the mayor's secretary. He knew everything about everyone in town; at least, the ones who deigned to visit. Admittedly, most of the elderly human population stayed well away from the place. They seemed to stay well away from everything that wasn't the general store on their short main strip of downtown.
Dime had always been put off by the man- his cheery demeanor was pleasant, but he always felt like it was carefully constructed to hide something sinister. Or maybe that was just his suspicion because Ivan was Kiril's ward. Dime didn't trust him either; he was far too quiet, and there was a concrete wall around his thoughts unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Anyone could be forgiven for forgetting the middle brother even existed at times. Maybe even the humans picked up on it, and that's why they avoided the bar and its redheaded server.
The crumbling, soot stained wooden facade came into view; the last building you'd see before exiting Ilaross, or alternatively the first thing you'd see when entering. Apart from the boats if you headed to the sea, the one lane road was the only way in or out of the town. Both needed a face lift.
He parked alongside a half dozen other cars, grabbed his notepad and ballpoint pen, and walked up the creaking wooden steps. They made him think of his sister. How she must have been frightened half to death to have ever stopped at the admittedly dingey looking building, and to brave all the gruff men inside.
Most of them were his pack members, and Dime had no fear for her on that count. The others were the working men of the town- the lumberjacks and snow plow drivers, to name a few. He was less certain about them, by the sheer fact that he'd never gotten to speak to most of them outside of passing thanks for local jobs.
No one was behind the bar when he entered, and no one paused in their drinking or cards or pool to pay him any mind. Dime readjusted his coat and approached the bottle laden shelves. There was a small silver bell on the counter, which he rang as he reclined against the bar.
The back doors swung open a few moments later, but instead of Ivan's red hair and glinting smile, he was met with the dark face of Aeryn. The confusion must have shown on his face, because Aeryn quirked a single brow up at him as he made his way over. "Sorry, I didn't expect to see you here. Where's Ivan?" Dime asked, as he straightened.
