The waitress was busy washing dishes after closing time when a sudden movement caught her eye and she turned around suddenly, but there was nobody there.
The hair on the back of her neck suddenly prickled, standing on end. Goosbumps arose on her arms, the feeling that she was not alone rippled though her and then the lights turned off.
The next moment, she felt something furry brush past her ankle as it went by. And then she saw a pair of eyes in the dark. Green, scary eyes.
The lights came back on and the man from the diner was standing there. His eyes were normal. He didn't have any bruises from earlier.
"Hello." He said as he walked over to her, like a man who had just found a woman in a dark alley. A sinister, calm smile was on his lips. His hands in his pockets.
"Have you come for revenge?" She asked, her voice shaking. That's not a very good example to your d…d…daughter." She backed against the sink as he came close enough to make her bend backwards a little bit.
He simply smiled at her and his fangs suddenly began to grow larger.
She looked like she would faint with fear.
"Now now, you couldn't possibly think that he is mature enough to be my father?" A voice behind her said. She turned around quickly to see the girl in question. Then she smiled and her teeth were sharp too.
"V…vvvvvampires!" The woman whimpered. She slid down to her bottom and then tried backing under the sink.
"Not quite." He said, crouching down to look at her. And then his skin drained of its color, revealing a corpse-like hue, and his smile suddenly began to melt away the skin on his left cheek. He placed a bony hand on her shoulder. Those monstrous green eyes had been real. And they had been his!
"You decided to mess with me tonight, and that wasn't very professional." He said. "Thanks to you, a couple of police officers died today."
She gulped.
"Now tell me where those guys are from before and I'll let you pretend you didn't see anything."
"I…I…I c-can't." She stuttered. "Th..they're regulars, but I don't know them personally."
"Come on now, I bet you know where I can find Bob. I just need to talk."
"B..b..Bob?" The woman asked. At the mention of the name, she seemed more willing to talk. "Y..you won't hurt Charlie?"
"I don't need to talk to Charlie right now." He answered her, "If I ever do, I'll let you know."
"O..ok." She said shakily, "C…come with m..me."
She walked to the cash register and got some paper from the receipt machine and pulled out a pen to write down an address. "Here he is, trailer 4."
Retsu took his bony fingertips and pinched a loose strand of her hair between his fingers, dragging them down its length until it slipped free and fell—slow, deliberate, a silent reminder of who held control in that moment.
Somehow, when he did that, he had left a nick on her cheek, causing a small trickle of blood to run down her face. He wiped it off of her face with his finger snd licked it. A shiver filled her with fear.
"Good. We will be off then, I don't have time to chat any longer, but if you tell anyone that we talked about this, then I will eat more humans, ok?"
"A…are you an a….alien?" She asked despite her fear.
He just put his bony finger to his lips, "shhhh. Like I said, don't tell anyone."
And then he left, the bell above the door making a soft cheery jingle. The girl following him, once again looking like any normal human girl, a sweet expression on her face.
—————-
Retsu was suddenly tense with hurry as he turned the key in the police car's ignition.
[Time remaining to dominate new pack member: 3:45:13] the clock continued ticking. He had lost a lot of time between looking for Rori and intimidating the waitress for information.
Rori looked around wide-eyed at the vehicle as she sat in the passenger seat.
"Did you really kill the police officers?"
He nodded as he backed out and pulled into the street.
"You know, you have to be better at lying low. It's a werewolf law for a reason. You're going to get into trouble if the Luna hears about this. It's a lot of humans that you have shown your nature to. Do you have a plan for how you're going to dominate this guy? Didn't he beat you last time?"
Retsu ignored her. "Put the coordinates into the phone for the address please, we wasted a lot of time already."
She puffed her cheeks and slumped back in her seat, typing the address into the phone before putting it on the dashboard for him to see. "You're going to get us killed." She complained.
They drove for another 45 minutes on a dirt road, the city lights had long since faded away, it was nearing 1am and Rori yawned. She wanted to sleep in her hotel room, but it seemed like they wouldn't even spend the night there.
The radio was playing quietly the same songs from the diner. The headlights illuminated the road only a few feet in front of them. Retsu hadn't calmed down at all. His grip on the steering wheel was tighter than necessary.
He hadn't talked the whole time either. Rori had no idea what they were going to be up against. Was her new alpha really going to fight with a challenger?
"Retsu?" She asked, "What's your plan?"
"We have 3 hours left." He said glancing at the timer that steadily ticked.
She waited for him to finish what he was saying but he didn't.
"Well, how are you planning on dominating him? If you can't, he could kill you." He seemed to be listening so she continued, "an alpha challenge would mean you give your pack to him, and he will probably kill you to get it, I…I think we need a plan to make sure that doesn't happen. I don't want to go to a different pack."
He kept his eyes on the road but his eyes softened just a little bit. He let out a sigh. "Rori, this guy has 2000 HP; his friend Charlie has 4000, and their two lackeys have 1000. I know you want me to make a plan but I really don't know what to do."
She took a moment to take in the information.
"That's pretty bad." She finally said. "So you're just going to charge in there with 350 HP and see what happens?"
"If he involves his lackeys, I will involve mine right?" Retsu said, as if that would help.