Ren Vampire Spy (Book 1 of the Ren Series)

BUTTON BUTTON WHO'SE GOT THE BUTTON

 

Ren sat in the back row of her math class and watched the event unfold before her eyes.  Four men in tactical gear entered the classroom and walked directly to the teacher.  The lead “army guy” spoke in hushed tones.  The teacher looked up and pointed to Dennis Zidon.  Dennis responded with a deer in the headlights look.  Eyes wide open and a blank stare Dennis didn't move.  The “army guys” surrounded Dennis and two of the men grabbed  his hands and tied them at his back in a white plastic zip tie.  When the sound of the zip tie being pulled screeched Dennis found his voice.

“Hey, what's going on?  Hey that hurts.  I'm on your side.”

Ren who had been waiting for her powers to come concentrated on the guy to the left of Dennis.  She looked him in the eyes.  The man turned and looked at Ren.  His eyes glassed over as Ren sent the message to him.  “He has a knife, back pocket right side.”  The guard shook his head in an attempt to clear the fog and get back to reality.  He immediately forced Dennis face down on his desk.  The slam was heard through out the room.  The teacher winced but kept watching.

The leader said, “Number 3 what are you doing?”

Number 3 looked at the leader and said, “He has a knife.”  He reached into Dennis'' back pocket and took out a comb.  The look of shock was evident on his face.  Ren had to cover her mouth to disguise a snort of laughter.  She then coughed keeping her mouth covered.

“Three step back you are relieved.  Four take over.  Let's get him down to Bronson.”

Like a group of lemmings they fell into line behind the leader and walked out the door and down the hall.

If only there was a cliff, Ren thought to herself.  In her mind she saw them marching over the cliff without any thought.  She could also hear Dennis proclaiming his innocence all the way down the hall.  Poor Dennis, she thought.  He didn't stand a chance.  Maybe it was mean of her to do that to number three but she was just so excited that her mind control power was now working.  She wanted to tell Dani and father but knew it was a bad idea.  She took her seat and finished the class.  Dennis never did come back to class.  Ren's bet was that they were falling all over themselves trying to avoid a lawsuit. 

Throughout the day the five man team  came and escorted students.  They no longer used the zip ties and they asked the  student to come with them.  Ren took a secret pleasure from the way they now handled students.  It's always amazing what a little threat of a lawsuit can do. 

During the last class of the day Dennis walked into the classroom.  He had a big smile on his face and bag of McDonalds' french fries and a large mocha frappe.  He walked over the Ren and Dani and plopped into his chair.

“Dennis are you OK?”  Ren looked at Dennis waiting for a reply.

“I'm fine.  After they tested me they were all like we are so sorry for this.  What can we do to make this right.  So I said how about McDonalds'?  I got to ride in a Humvee and saw all the cool stuff the truck had in it.  Did you know they can monitor all cell phone calls in the area?”

Ren hide the look of shock on her face and said, “No I didn't.  That is wicked cool.”

Dennis was beaming.  They also told me that they had to make a stop at a secret base of operations.  The made me put on a blindfold then drove around for a while.  When they stopped they took off the blindfold and told me that this was their base.  Dennis promised not to tell anyone where it  was.

Ren knew she was going to get a big piece of information because Dennis couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it.  “Where is it Dennis?  I won't tell anyone.  You know me.”

Dennis considered this bit of information for a few seconds then said, “OK, but you can't tell anyone.  Promise?”

“Of course Dennis, it will be our secret.”  Ren smiled her cutest smile and stroked his arm.

Dennis was going crazy.  This is the first time Ren had shown any interest in at all in Dennis and the love struck boy almost passed out.  “It's in the old wool mill on the outskirts of town.  I knew the place right away because we used to go there and break out windows during the summer.  Of course I didn't tell them I knew where it was.  They have fixed up the first two floors.  The first floor is the work area with labs, cages, and communications.  The second floor is the barracks, kitchen, and infirmary.   The old power building by the river is now the motor pool.  It is fixed up really nice.  It looks like they are planning on staying a while.  When I was there they were installing air conditioners and heating ducts.”

“Wow that sounds so cool.  You must be real proud they trusted so much.”

“Ya, it's cool and all.  But they blindfolded me on the way out too.  Remember the other day they caught that girl here at school?”

“Sure do, it was scary.”

“Well now they have five prisoners.  They  say they caught the others trying to leave town.  One of them was a wolf.  It was amazing to watch it.  It just paced back and fourth in the cage and growled this low vibrating growl that you could feel in the floor.  When we walked closer to the cage it pounced at us and hit the cage.  Then it howled.  I backed away and they told me that it hadn't changed since the capture.  So they were not going to feed it until it did.  Did you know that they can't change forms when their hands are tied behind their back.  They explained that that was why they used the zip ties on him.  They thought I might be a wolf or a bear or something.  I also got this really cool pass that allows me to go to Bronson's office if I spot someone without a button.”

“That is amazing.  So your helping them now.  I am so proud of you.”  Inside Ren was furious at Dennis but figured she should keep her friends close and her enemies closer.  Her Grandpa had taught her that and she was glad she had listened. 

The bell ending the class rang loud and clear.  All three walked to the buss.  When Ren and Dani got off at her stop the girls walked over to the old bus bench and sat down to talk. 

“Dani, I got this for you today.”  Ren dug in her pocket and took out the pass.

“What is it?”

“It's a pass for anytime and class.  Just show it to your teacher and you can walk out of class.”

“Totally Awesome,” Dani smiled at her friend.

“Just keep it under wraps and only use it in emergencies.”

“No prob.”  Dani folded the paper and put it in her ever-present backpack.

Ren hugged Dani then got up to head home.  “I have to go.  My father is waiting for me.”

“Hey Ren why do you call him father instead of dad?”

“Well my dad is over 800 years old and in his time the kids called their parents Mother and Father.  I think my father likes the title better than dad.”

“Got it.  Well my dad wants me home right away.  With everything happening he doesn't want to take any chances.”

From behind a group of trees Alpha poked his head.  “Seems you didn't really listen to me.  I said straight home.”

“Please don't be upset Alpha.”  Ren looked at the ground out of respect.  “I wanted to give her an emergency pass I got from Bronson today.”

Alpha had a puzzled look on his face but decided to wait for the report from Jeremy.  “For you Ren I will let it slide.  OK pup let's head home.”

Dani looked exasperated as she spoke to her dad, “Dad I asked you not to call me that.  I'm not a pup anymore.  It's embarrassing.”

Alpha smiled at his daughter, “I'm sorry Danielle your right.  Let's head home.”

“OK,” Dani smiled.  “Bye Ren.”  Then she walked off toward home with Alpha right behind her looking over his shoulder making sure there was no immediate danger.

Before they were out of site Dani yelled back, “Hey Ren, bet no one forgets their button from now on.”  She turn and walked around the bend in the path.

Ren was smiling as she thought, You're right Dani, no one will ever forget their buttons again.  With a chuckle she headed home.