Without Incident [Wattys2016]

06.

"Well that's his car, but he's not in it." Corey marched back to Mason's car, hopping into the passenger seat. The car idled outside of the entrance to Beacon Hills Preserve, sitting in the shadow of Deputy Parrish's empty SUV. Mason, Hayden and I stared at the mouth of the path, half hoping he'd appear.

"I don't get it," Corey said, working himself up. "Why wouldn't he wait for us before he went to go find the Nemeton? You know how hard it is to get to that thing. It's like the freakin' sword of Gryffindor."

I shook my head. "The what? Whatever-nevermind. And you know how he is; sometimes he just spaces out and wanders off. He doesn't always have his hands on the wheel if you know what I mean."

"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean and I don't want to be anywhere near that vehicle when it spins out of control. Wait-where are you going?"

Corey shouted after me as I shoved open the door, holding it for Hayden as she climbed out of the backseat. It was a cool summer night, a good night for hunting.

"Let's not waste any time, we might still be able to catch up to him."

The lock to the driver's side popped but I blocked the door before it could swing open. Mason stared up at me, confused. Thinking it an accident, he tried to force the door open again, letting the window down to tell me to move out of the way.

"Stay in the car."

"What? No way."

Grinding my teeth, I gripped the door, barring his hand from touching the handle again. "This is me putting my foot down. Mason, stay here. Keep a look out."

He bristled, refusing to break eye contact. "What's your deal, man?"

I knew what Hayden and Corey were capable of. As unpredictable as Parrish could be I knew what he could do. If I was being completely honest with myself, I felt that somewhere inside of Mason some piece of the beast still remained. I lived in fear that someday, someone was going to trigger it. I wasn't going to risk this being that day.

"I'm just looking out for you."

"Stop talking to me like I can't handle myself, Liam." He lowered his voice. "Do you have a problem with me?"

"Yeah, I would say so. A problem that has to do with the fact that you were possessed by a Frenchman on a power trip. Stay here, I mean it. "

"Or what?" He challenged.

Scrubbing the wounded look on Mason's face from my memory, I stepped back, taking my hand off the door. I might as well have said I didn't trust him.

"He means well." Corey leaned into the window, giving Mason a reassuring kiss. "Besides, you've got the most important role in this; you're the getaway driver. You watch yourself."

I started down the path, Hayden and Corey trudging after me. Veering off of the bike path, we stumbled down a steep decline, weaving through trees and over nettle. It wasn't long before we had gotten turned around. We had barely been walking fifteen minutes-no or had it been an hour? Days?

That was what the forest did to you, it walked you in circles and ate at your mind. The closer you got to the Nemeton the less sane you felt.

"I'm pretty sure we passed that tree already," said Hayden, picking up a stick and chucking it.

Corey laughed, "You mean the one that looks like coach Finstock?"

We all angled our heads as we passed it, looking for shapes in the bark.

We walked on for a bit longer before Corey grew impatient. "If I was a hellhound, where would I be?"

"That sounds like the makings of a bad joke," I said. "A hellhound, two werewolves and a human chameleon walk into a bar."