Ren Vampire Spy (Book 1 of the Ren Series)

THE FALLOUT

The morning came way to early for Ren with a little over three hours of sleep she was lightly woken by a large gray wolf who was licking her hand.  As she woke the wolf changed and Ren saw a very handsome young man.  “I'm Daniel,  I hate to wake you but there is food, blood for you I guess, in the kitchen.  Dani is already there waiting for you.  I just wanted to tell you you were amazing last night.  I was assigned to protect your Grandpa.  Thank you for helping with the rescue.”

“No problem Daniel,” Ren said as her cheeks flushed.  She started to sit up and was greeted by Daniels hand.  Taking it she was easily pulled to a standing position.  Ren thought, Wow Daniel is strong and kind and cute.  She realized she was staring right into Daniels eyes.  Turning a brighter shade of red she turned away.  Daniel smiled and holding Ren's hand lead her into the kitchen.

Dani was at the counter eating some kind of hash.  Ren sat up next to her and one of the cooks opened the microwave and brought her a glass of warm blood.  Daniel took the seat next to Ren and asked for some corned beef hash with eggs.

Alpha entered the room about  fifteen minutes later and lead the girls to the bus stop.  “Ren you did a good job last night.  I also want to thank you for helping with Crystal.  I spoke to her this morning.  She said to tell you she wasn't afraid anymore.  I also wanted to tell you that all the wolves were visible within two hours.  The younger ones seem to appear faster than the older wolves.”

“That makes sense.  The older wolves have a slower metabolism.  I do have to tell you Alpha, it was way fun.  I know it was dangerous but it was a great time.  I have never had a more exciting day.”

Dani looked up, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Ren said.

Alpha spoke up, “Ren if it's ok with you I think it is time to come clean with Dani.”

“The whole thing?”  Ren looked at Alpha with a question in her eyes.

“Yes Ren, you can tell her everything.  I checked with your Father last night and he agrees.  We think you need to have someone to talk to and share stuff with.  Dani has been your best friend for years and you know you can trust her and if you get in trouble you can tell her what you need.”

Ren ran over to Alpha and gave him a huge hug.  “Thank you Alpha.  I hate keeping secrets from Dani.”

Dani turned around and faced both of them and asked, “Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?”

Ren and Alpha laughed.  Ren started telling her all that had happened since Bronson had come to town.  When she finished her story Alpha added a caution that she could not tell anyone about Ren or Ren could get hurt.

Dani broke out laughing as they arrived at the bus stop.  “My best friend is a vampire spy.  Can I be your sidekick?  Oh Ren this is so exciting.”

“You will always be my sidekick,” said Ren as she hugged Dani.  “I thouight you would be mad at me for not telling you right away.”

“Ren, I spend half my life in the dark.  I am an Alpha's cub.  Secrets are just a part of my life.  I'm not mad at you.  I love you.”  Dani hugged Ren as Alpha pointed out the bus coming down the road.

When the girls got to school they could not believe what they saw.  The entire front of the school was lined with soldiers.  They each carried M16's or M2's.  They had sunglasses on and looked like they were ready for a fight.  As the bus stopped in its usual place on the curb another group of soldiers ran out the front door of the school and surrounded the bus.  Dani was scared, Ren was angry.  “This is the fallout from last night.”  Ren reached under her shirt and felt for her taser.  With this many soldiers it wouldn't do much good, but it made her feel better.

They were escorted off the bus and directly in the gym.  All the gym exits were guarded by men with guns.  There was a line of students weaving back and forth.  Up near the stage there were cages.  They had two cages open and were placing students in them then handing them a silver cross they waited for any reaction.  If there was no reaction the student was removed from the cage and sent off to class.  Ren could only assume that if there was a reaction the cage door would be slammed shut.

Ren and Dani waited their turn.  Ren was just about to enter the cage when one of the guards called out.  “Hey Ren, you don't need to do this.  You were cleared yesterday.”

“Thanks.” Ren stepped out of line and waited for Dani.  “Mind if I wait for my friend?”

“No problem she can skip this as well.  This is the girl you got the extra pass for yesterday?”

“Yup, this is Dani.”

“Ok Dani you can head off to class.”

Both girls thanked the soldiers and headed off to class.  When they got in the hall Dani said, “That was close Ren.”

“You got that one right.  Way to close.”  They entered their first class and began the strangest day in recorded history.

At about noon the school PA system clicked on and Mr. Bronson spoke to the school.

“I want all students to know that today we tested every student in the school.  We did not find any abnormals.  This means the school is clear.”  There was light clapping heard from around the school.  “Next we will be testing all the staff.  We have men outside every classroom,  teachers lounge, office and bathroom.  Each classroom will be allowed to leave once the teacher has been tested.”

For the next hour they tested every teacher.  No luck.  Bronson was furious.  He took the names of all students who had not shown up for class.  These were now the suspects.  By the end of the day every student had a list of students to be on the lookout for.  Bronson set up and published a set of names and a number to call if they saw anyone on the list. 

He had effectively divided the school into two groups.  Ren was talking to Dani once they reached the bus stop.  “This is turning into a police state.”  Ren opened her cell and called VIP to tell them the news.  She then called Alpha on his private line and shared the information with him.  It was imperative that they got all abnormals off the street if they didn't go to school.  Both Alpha and VIC went to work passing the word through to everyone involved.

“What's gonna happen next?,” Dani asked.

“I don't know but it ain't gonna be good for the humans.  Last night we played nice and didn't kill or seriously hurt any humans.  If they keep pushing this war then the gloves are gonna come off and people are going to get really hurt.  I'll go to the meeting tonight and find out.  I can tell you tomorrow at the bus stop.

“OK...but be careful.  I know the wolves are already on edge and I don't want anyone getting hurt.”

“See you in the morning.”  Ren split off the path and headed to her house.  There was homework to do and information to be shared with Grandpa.  It was going to be a busy night if she planned to go to the meeting as well.