Listen to my voice.

Chapter 8.

"This is the most dangerous thing I've ever done" Thom blurted out.

"And me, I thought I'd never run away from home."

They both laughed only to fall silent again.

Their heaving breaths were all that could be heard, they really had both risked too much, what would have happened if the witch was closer to being immortal?

They would both be dead.

"Shall we tell Alei?"

The girl turned her face to look at her friend's profile.

"Should we. She'll scold us horribly."

"We're talking about Alei, she'll yell at us for not taking her."

It was so true.

He clicked his tongue "It's true. We'll tell her tomorrow."

After a few more minutes they both fell sound asleep, it had been a long day.

Who would have thought that arriving in that town the lives of many would take a big turn.

Arriving in a small town, where nothing important ever happens, and there's nothing important - or so they think - and it's not a place visited often.

[ . . . ]

The alarm on the small clock on Harley's bedside table rang, waking them from their wonderful sleep.

"Damn watch" cursed both boys at the same time, their voices slightly hoarse.

He reached his arm out from under his pillow to then hit the small button on the device.

"What do you say we destroy it?" commented Ley, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

" Sounds good to me" replied Thom.

"You can wash up in the other room" he said then headed for the bathroom in his room.

After a few minutes Harley finished putting on her tennis shoes, she pulled her hair into a high ponytail looking in the mirror and smiled a little.

Today she didn't feel bad, she was happy, she felt good about herself.

Love yourself just the way you are, she reminded herself.

"You're beautiful have I told you that before?" she complimented her friend leaning against the door frame, she smiled again and threw herself into the arms of her chestnut friend, he returned the gesture and after a moment they let go of each other to both head for the kitchen.

"Thank you for being with me," she said as she leaned against the American table.

"Thanks for being my friend."

Harley and Thom found Veronica's note saying that she was at the hospital watching the patients' recovery, by now almost everyone in town knew that things were better, so much so that everyone was already back to their respective daily activities.

It had taken them by surprise that from one day to the next they said that they could continue as if nothing had happened, they said that it had been a virus and due to the change of climate it had disappeared since it was not used to those degrees, the humans believed it but not the werewolves, they knew that something was happening, but they would never find out what had really happened, of course, if Harley or Thom did not tell them, but so far in their plans, that was not foreseen.

They ate breakfast amidst laughter and chatter. When they finished breakfast, they washed up what they used.

"Should we wake the boys?"

The green-eyed man grimaced not very determined "Alei hates being picked up, but she also hates not being picked up. Olivia I don't think she'll bother, Dereck might."

"So?"

He shrugged "yesterday was a complicated day, plus I don't think they're all going to school, we left them breakfast ready with a note."

"Right."

When it was all ready, a slightly sleepy Liv came down the stairs and sketched a small smile at the boys.

"Good morning."

"Hi, Liv," greeted both brown-haired boys.

"Are you guys going to school?"

They saw the time, they had time, while the blonde ate breakfast they took the opportunity to tell her about what happened last night, including the meeting of the boys, but omitting Tyler and what it really was, she was attending to what they were telling her but was a little confused.

"How did they know what it was?"

Both boys shared a look, Tyler appeared scaring the chestnut a little, but seeing that it was him, she relaxed her features a little.

"Tell him you heard the whispers."

Harley gave his new friend a smile by uttering a thank you.

"It was the voices."

The girl murmured a: good thing it was all over and thanked both boys, totally convinced that it had really been about the voices, in a way she wasn't lying, just hiding some of the truth, she didn't suspect anything either, as only Veronica knew what it was.

The boys said goodbye to Olivia, she opted to stay and clean up after them, asking them to stop by her house later to drop off their notes.

Thom's flashy car pulled up in front of the school - yes, they had already brought it to him and he couldn't be happier - attracting the attention of all the teenagers as usual.

The brown-haired boy was the first to get out, several girls and boys looked at him, letting out a sigh or two, nobody would deny that he was a very handsome and kind boy, which made him even more handsome, but apparently he didn't realize it.

He walked over to the passenger door and then opened it, another brown hair peeked out causing the same effect as his friend, they intertwined their arms to get in.

The classes had passed normally-teachers asked their students if they were well because of the previous day, since they didn't want them to have felt obligated to go, one or the other student was worried about not seeing his friends-, until it was time for lunch, everyone was in the cafeteria.

When the doors were opened, calling the attention of all the students, teachers and the kitchen staff, a few policemen entered through them, they did not look good, which meant that something was wrong, the chief approached the principal whispering a couple of things to which he nodded.

He gave directions to some policemen and they set out to search the entire high school, others approached the boys showing them a picture.

Amidst the chatter of the teenagers, murmurs could be heard talking about a disappearance, further worrying the students who were unable to communicate with their friends who had missed school.

The chief himself approached the duo of friends "Hey, guys. I'll show you a picture of a girl, any information you have or know, let us know."

He held out to them a picture of a little brunette girl, about six years old, very smiley, she had a cute red dress on and was clutching her teddy bear tightly.

They denied "no, boss, we haven't seen her" Thom spoke "She's missing?"

He nodded "yes, since yesterday. We assumed that all the kids were found in the woods, but Maddie is the only one missing."

"It's all clear, boss" spoke one of them walking in, when the boys turned they realized it was Alei's uncle "oh, hi, guys" he walked over to greet them.

"Mr. Marcus" they replied.

"I have to go, tell Alei not to be so late."

"No worries" having said that he left with a few others, Harley fixed his eyes back on the boss "could I . . . could I keep the sign?" he mumbled.

He nodded "sure, thanks guys" he was about to turn around but stepped back and looked at them again "your voices, have we spoken recently?"

Both boys became nervous. "uh, no, of course not."

He narrowed his eyes "they're lying."

"How? Oh! You're a werewolf?" whispered Thom, still impressed.

"Yes, I thought it would take them longer to find out what the town was truly hiding" he ran his hand through his hair "You know Dereck?"

"A brown with some blond highlights, blue-eyed guy who has a face like he wants to kill everyone?" he asked to which the cop nodded in amusement "Sure! He almost burned down the kitchen yesterday for saying he could cook! What about him?"

He laughed lightly "he's one of the best trackers, tell him to go to the girl's mother" he took out a notebook pointing the address "you can go too, be careful" when he was about to go through the door he looked at them "by the way, I'm Jayson, tell Dereck it's a mission" they frowned a little confused by the last thing "it was nice dealing with you, Ley, Thom."

And without further ado he withdrew along with the other cops leaving the two brown-haired men with a frown on their faces.

"Mission? How do you know our names?"

Harley lifted his shoulders "He must have heard it around."

"Maybe."

"He's the chief of cops, he must know everything, I guess."

[ . . . ]

The boys entered Harley's house leaving their things on the couch, when they went to the kitchen, plates of food were on the table, Olivia, Alei and Dereck were there, the last one with a face of few friends, he had gotten up a few minutes ago and was not in a good mood, as usual.

"Hi, guys!" greeted Olivia finishing setting the two remaining plates.

"Hi" muttered the redhead with her mouth full towards her friends.

"Hey" they replied.

"What are you guys doing so early?" asked Dereck after swallowing the piece of meat.

The boys looked at each other "a girl went missing and everyone is looking for her."

"A girl? Who?" he asked again.

"Her name is Maddie."

This one nodded, while the town was not that big and not that small, so they all knew each other by sight, but they did, not all were friends but acquaintances.

Lunch passed in silence, until Thom clicked his tongue "right, Dereck."

The alluded looked up "What happened?"

"Uh, Chief Jayson?" he looked at his friend she nodded, the boy didn't usually remember names very well "Chief Jayson said to go with Maddie's mom" he paused to get a drink of water "because you were one of the best trackers, oh and that it was a mission. Although that last one I didn't understand."

He nodded "okay" he looked down to focus on his food again but looked up quickly "wait, did you say let's go?"

"Yeah, he said we could go."

The boy grimaced in annoyance to finish eating, Alei and Olivia were excited, they wanted to help look for the girl.

[ . . . ]

"Mrs. Carol" greeted the twins, the blue-eyed boy approached "we're here to help with the search for Maddie."

He gave them a slight nonexistent smile "thank you" he looked at the boys standing next to the boy "it's a pleasure."

"I'm Thom, this is Harley and Alei, sorry we have to meet under these circumstances."

"No worries, guys" he replied kindly.

"Do you happen to have a garment or any items that Maddie has worn recently?" asked Dereck.

The lady nodded doubtfully "yes Why?"

"We need a garment to track her faster, we have some methods."

The brunette nodded in understanding "sure guys, hold on."

"Ordering articles of clothing from a person to track them is kind of wicked" Thom commented.

Everyone, including Dereck, nodded a little amused, missing the girls.

Carol came out of her house with a yellow sweater in her hands, and handed it to Dereck.

"It was the last thing she had on, I didn't wash it because it still had her smell . . . " in her eyes she reflected sadness, Thom and Harley couldn't stand it anymore and went over to hug her to which she sobbed a little "excuse me."

"Don't worry, we'll find her, okay?" replied Thom.

Harley was giving light caresses to the lady's back in the hug, after a few minutes they separated, she gave them a smile "thank you."

She needed it.

Dereck let out a small sigh "excuse me was Maddie carrying something?"

"Yes, his teddy bear never leaves his side."

"Okay, we'll get Maddie, Mrs. Carol, trust me" the blue-eyed man spoke.

They said goodbye and without further ado got lost in the woods.

They were already walking a few meters ago and they still had no clue of the girl, in the part where they were they had not been searched by the policemen, come on the forest was very large, and only a few hours ago it was warned about the girl had not appeared.

"Maddie!"

"Maddie!"

They kept shouting her name to no avail, Dereck perceived that the girl's scent was getting stronger and stronger.

After a few more minutes they found the same teddy bear from the photo, the blue-eyed man walked over and picked it up looking at the boys.

"It must be close by."

"Maddie!" shouted Alei "Maddie! Are you around, are you hurt?"

A few small sobs are heard, they quickly approached finding the girl covering her face with her legs.

"Maddie, right?" commented the lycanthrope standing next to her, the girl nodded in fright "I think this bear is yours."

As she handed it to him she hugged him tightly "thank you."

He nodded "Would you mind coming with us? Your mom is waiting for us."

His little eyes sparkled with intensity.

"My mommy?"

"Yes, Mrs. Carol."

With that said they all headed to the hospital to have her checked out and confirm that she was okay, after a few minutes the elevator was opened revealing Carol, Veronica and Jayson.

The first one went running up to her little girl's room, upon seeing her she stuffed her face with many kisses, after chatting with Maddie she approached the boys apologizing to the gentlemen, she hugged everyone.

"Thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done without my daughter."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Carol."

The police chief approached the boys with a smile.

"Thanks, guys" he said his eyes on Dereck "good job, puppy."

He smiled at her and nodded.

"Don't thank me, Jayson. I had to."

and without further ado they left the hospital, Thom was walking ahead with Alei and Olivia telling them what had happened in class and coming to explain, while Harley and Dereck were in the back.

The blue-eyed man had his eyes on the brunette's hands.

"Nice ring" she murmured looking at the golden jewel with some small diamonds.

She looked down seeing the ring Thom had given her "it's very nice, Thommy has good taste."

"Is that the one he gave you for you know?"

"For the fake wedding?" he nodded she let out an amused laugh "yes, that's the one."

[ . . . ]

It had been a few hours since they had each arrived home, but a certain brown-haired girl was not having such a good time.

"Where are you?" she asked him again, her hands beginning to shake.

"I'm coming."

"I'll wait for you on the sidewalk" he merely said and then hung up.

And there it was again, the anxiety that had haunted her since she was a child, and that led her to imagine the worst scenarios in every situation where there was some risk.

She had been diagnosed a few months before her eleventh birthday, and since then her adolescence had become quite difficult.

From her backpack she took out her medication, her body was sweating and her legs were getting weaker and weaker, as was her whole body. She felt dizzy and it was difficult to breathe.

From the small bottle containing the pills, she took out what corresponded to her dose and drank water from the bottle she had left hours ago in her backpack.

All that had happened yesterday and in the morning she forgot to take them in due time, she cursed herself for forgetting.

She took a deep breath and followed all the steps her psychologist had taken to teach her.

She burst into tears when she felt calmer, she could no longer bear anything.

Her missing father, being away from her town, her friends, learning the truth, the lies, the secrets, she could not.

She was really tired and she couldn't tell anyone, she didn't want to worry them and fill them with her problems when they already had their own.

The noise of the car's engine made her raise her head, tears were still sliding down her face, she tried to wipe them quickly with the back of her hand, but it was too late, he had already seen her, her friend came running towards her, Harley stood up and let the brown hug her, to cry on her shoulder inhaling the sweet scent she gave off.

"Hey" he said grabbing her face to leave a chaste kiss on her forehead "it's going to be okay, precious."

"Excuse me" she whispered.

He denied kissing the tip of her nose, eliciting a blush and a giggle from her "nothing is your fault, I'm here to listen to you Yes?"

He nodded.

"Thank you, Thommy."

"Don't thank me, Ley."

"I must."

"Of course not" she reached out to her friend "Movie night?"

A smile tugged at her face "Yes!"

After entering the chestnut's house the boy pulled out his cell phone "I'll let Alei and Liv know, in the meantime go take a shower and put on something warm okay?"

"It's okay, Mom," he scoffed.