Chasing Wolves (completed)

Chapter 26 Isadora

Chapter 26

Isadora

It feels like it's been hours since we started walking around the city, aimlessly searching for some sign of Kate while secretly knowing it's futile. I look up to the sky for the first time in a while and notice the sky is starting to lighten. It really has been hours. Now that I realize it, the buildings and everything are becoming just a tad more detailed as the indirect light starts to hit them. I hadn't noticed before, me just assuming it was due to my enhanced vision, but it's starting to get more obvious the closer it comes to dawn.

So far, as expected, there's been no sign of Kate, only countless homeless people and the occasional stray animal.

Once we came across a mugging and Eli knocked out the attacker before I found some electrical cord in the nearby dumpster and tied him to the street lamp nearby, with a post-it on his forehead that said 'I tried to mug a man.' We left him there after calling the police and continued to search aimlessly. That was only a few minutes ago and if I focused I could still see him back along the deserted street.

As we pass a corner shop (one of those Seven Eleven type places that are always open) I catch the trace of a familiar smell... a smell I've been hoping to come across for four days!

I give a little whistle (mentally beaming at the fact that I actually did it; I usually can't whistle for the life of me) and they both stop before turning around to look at me, Lin's eyes holding a tinge of pride at my whistle and I can't help but smile back. He knows I fail at it.

Focusing on the present, I hold a finger to my lips and they look at me like 'really? Of course we're going to be quiet, genius.' I roll my eyes and whisper as quietly as possible as I slowly shoo them into a nearby alley. "I caught Kate's scent-" they both look up at me excitedly and I shake my head, continuing when their faces fall, "-it isn't Kate, but someone that's been around her for a long time recently. They're in that store and we're going to wait until they come out and interrogate them."

They both nod, getting as comfortable as they can against the alley wall, and we settle in to wait. I know no one but us three heard a word of what I said, glad once again that they both have such sensitive hearing. The fact that we're the only ones around here helps also.

It's taken me a while but I've finally mastered telling the difference between a person's scent and the scent of them on someone else. Good thing, too, otherwise I probably would have just assumed it was Kate and burst in there, possibly scaring whoever we're waiting for so that they fled and our only lead disappeared.

After about five minutes the sound of the shop's door opening pulls me to reality and Kate's scent gets stronger as whoever it is gets closer to our hiding spot. Someone passes by the alley and I give an internal whoop of excitement as I catch her scent on them. In a second I've covered their mouth and pulled them into the alley with us. I slam him against the wall, barely registering that it is indeed a man, and am momentarily surprised by his pale green eyes.

Huh, for some reason I'd been expecting a vampire. I take a whiff of him, ignoring Kate's scent as I try to focus on if he's been around vampires... Yeah, he has, recently too, probably as long ago as he was with Kate. I start to panic, thinking of Kate around vampires, and stop just as quickly, knowing that she can handle herself.

Taking a second to look him over I try not to cringe at what I see. He's emaciated, his cheeks sunken, dark circles under his eyes, his already small shirt draping over him as if there was nothing underneath. I loosen my grip on his shoulder, realizing that I can feel the individual bones beneath my fingers, and ask him the question that's been plaguing my mind for days. "Where is Kate?"

His eyes widen, scared, and he stutters quietly, "h-how do you know Kate?"

I shake my head, slightly amused by his obvious fear, and answer, "no no no. The real question is: how do you know Kate?"