HYHM PART 2

Chapter 8

HYHM PART 2- CHAPTER 8

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London, United Kingdom

It was an unusually cold day for summer. Fog had settled into the dark Alley where the two men met. Loud guffaws of laughter and the steady hum of conversation drifted to their ears from the line of pubs around the corner.

“Sodding weather!” The younger man blurted out in an attempt to make conversation. In truth he was nervous. The man who stood in front of him was powerful. Powerful enough to wipe away all traces of him from planet Earth.

“Have you got any news?” The man asked him, danger dripping from his voice.

“Yes, Sir.” He stuttered. “In fact, our men have eyes on the girl. They are going to check in with me soon. When I have more I shall contact you.”

“Do not attempt to contact me. I want absolute discretion, you hear? I will find you.” He warned. He hated dealing with amateurs. That too ones as young as the lad in front of him. But he had no choice. He couldn’t use the people he had always used. They had failed him.

“Yes, Sir.” He replied. “Would that be all then, Sir?”

“That will be all.” He replied, before turning away and disappearing into the shadows of the Alley.

Relieved to be alive, the man waited, his back touching the cold dark stone of the alley’s wall. And then he heard it. The sound of footsteps walking away from him. A set belonging to the man that he had just met with, and then another set. He knew that sound. It was the sound of a woman’s heeled shoe.

Blackhawk High

“So?” Mia asked Estela as she spun her around to face the mirror.

Estela gasped. The girl that stared back wasn’t her. Her eyes glistened with contacts that lightened them to a natural grey from their original brown color. Her hair that had previously shared the same hue as her eyes was now blue-black. A few carefully placed streaks of burgundy red ran through the blue-black, which had now been cut into a short, sharp and uneven bob. As if that wasn’t a change enough, her eyebrows had not only been tweezed thin, but had also been dyed to a blue black.

Black kohl lined her eyes, while foundation two shades lighter than her original skin tone gave a perfectly pale backdrop for the burgundy stain that Mia had painted on her lips.

“I thought I am supposed to blend in. Be less noticeable?” She declared.

“Hey, I didn’t pick the picture or the identity.” She replied defensively.

A knock interrupted their banter followed by Diego’s voice. “Can I come in?” He asked.

Mia opened the door for him, surprised to see that he had brought along Dr. Hobson. She looked at Estela with a half smile and a raised eyebrow. This was going to be fun, she thought.

“Hi Dr. Hobson.” Estela smiled.

“Hello, dear.” He replied. “Are you ready for the next step?”

“No. Not really. No. I am going to have to go with no.” She replied. She had always hated dentists. It only meant one thing. Pain.

“Don’t worry, dear.” He said as if reading her mind. “This is just for aesthetics. No pain involved. Now have a seat, will you.”

Estela sat down begrudgingly while Mia snickered in the background.

London, United Kingdom.

He walked up the cobblestone path with his hands in his pockets. They were cold. Cold, chapped and hopelessly tired and worn with age. Unlike his mother, who remained unusually young for her age, he grew older every day. He wasn’t like her. She was special. He had taken after his father, who now lay lifeless in his grave in London’s prestigious St. Mark’s Cemetery. His heart cringed. Soon it would be his time to lie beside his father leaving his mother all alone. No woman should have to bury her own children, he thought. That’s what she had told him endlessly until it was engraved in his brain. He hadn’t any children of his own; he hadn’t ever thought to have a family. Life had not been fair to him. When this was all over and his mother had her revenge, he could leave this hell on earth and die peacefully.  You just couldn’t get good help these days. The girl had managed to escape and evade every single person that he had sent after her. And then, the latest complication had just ensured that he it would take longer than he thought.  Maybe she wasn’t as smart as her sister or as lucky.

He stopped to take a break and looked up at his mother was well ahead of him.

“Mother!” He called out softly. She would hear him. She had very sharp hearing. 

Turning, she walked towards him. “I am sorry, my dear. I forget.” She said her eyes filled with pity. “You are human. I wish you weren’t. I can’t bear to see you grow old. Look at you, my love! I cannot bear it.”

“Mother…” He said softly. “I am weary, and I am tired. Why don’t you go ahead without me? I will meet you at home at my own pace. Maybe stop at the club for a Scotch on the way.” He smiled.

“Sounds lovely. Say hello to the boys.”

Blackhawk High

She hated it. It felt awful. It made her sound awful when she spoke.

“Is this really necessary, Diego?” She lisped.

“Yes. It is small things like these that could save your life.” He said.

She stretched her lips and bared her teeth in the mirror. Shiny metal glimmered back at her.

Braces. Great.

“What happens if I have to shift? Will the braces fall off?” She asked.

“Yes. They will. And do not shift. They will be able to find you a hundred times faster if you are in wolf form. Be as human as you can be.”

“Ok. That shouldn’t be hard seeing as I was human until about three weeks ago.”

She stood up and stretched. The outfit wasn’t what she would have normally chosen. But that was the point, wasn’t it? Besides, it was comfortable for which she was thankful. She would also be well equipped if she needed to run, climb, jump or blend in with the dark. She prayed she wouldn’t have to. She wriggled her toes in the flat, black industrial boots that she wore. The thin layer of red and black striped socks was the only thing that protected her feet from the tough leather. Where the socks ended, her opaque black leggings began. Mia had ordered her to put on a pair of ridiculously short red plaid shorts over her leggings, which was fastened by a leather belt with metal studs poking out from it. A black, short sleeve T-shirt that read ‘Mrs. Edward Cullen’ modestly covered her upper body, while fingerless gloves covered most of her arms.

“Did you just take a pair of socks and cut of the feet?” She asked Mia recognizing them to be exactly the same as her socks.

“Uh huh.” She replied as she shook a bottle of black nail polish.

“Are we not done?” Estela asked.

“Nope…Just the nail polish. Don’t worry. It is fast drying.”

With a sigh, Estela plopped down into the chair and stuck her hand out to Mia.

“Seriously? From all the T-shirts in the world you had to pick this one?”

Mia laughed. “It’s great isn’t it?”

“Ironic really. Since we are werewolves.”

“True. But remember…you are just another teenager.

“I wish…” Replied Estela.