Moonlight Run

Twenty

Isa’s POV

“Dammit, Marisol… what did you do?”

As I stirred awake, I heard an unfamiliar voice address my mother.

“This wasn’t the plan.” He said. I heard a small clanking noise and I felt the cold sensation of metal close in around my ankle. I tried to open my eyes, but my whole body felt paralyzed.

“Don’t lecture me about plans. You weren’t there when the boy and I arrived.”

“All you had to do was keep him distracted a few minutes more. Get him out of the car, maybe encourage him to look around for Leon. We were just a few minutes away.”

“Vlad, I saw his phone; someone sent him a picture of my car. I couldn’t exactly bullshit my way out of that one, and I certainly couldn’t take him all by myself either…” She paused. “But now we have Isa, and he’ll come looking for her. It’s all going to work out.”

“He isn’t going to be happy.” The man replied. “He wanted the girl left out of it.”

“And you think I didn’t? She’s my daughter, Vladimir. I wanted her as far away from this as possible until it was over. Nikolai said he already had his Beta lock her in his room, I thought that solved the problem.”

“You were supposed to put Isadora in your room with Carina, then get Nikolai to the location. If you had done that, you would’ve arrived there when we did. Showing up early before we got there was on you. Not us.”

I heard a metal creaking sound and then a loud thud. I still couldn’t open my eyes. I felt the surface beside me sink, and felt a hand palm my cheek, then she pressed her fingers against my neck. 

“You’re waking up,” my mother said. “I can feel your pulse returning to normal. I know you can hear me… But you can’t move yet, and I’m sorry about that, sweetie. You weren’t supposed to be a part of this; not yet.” She sighed, putting her hand around mine. “But it’s all gonna work out, I promise.”

I felt my mother’s lips press against my forehead before she left my side. I heard the metal creaking sound and loud thud follow, and I fell back into unconsciousness.

***

Nikolai’s POV

I slammed my fist into my father’s desk. “No one comes back until you find her!”

Cyrano and Dimitri exchanged nervous glances. It was Dimitri that spoke.

“Niko… we’ve looked everywhere. Everyone has. The tree cams haven’t picked up anyone leaving the grounds. The patrols haven’t either. The scent just disappears in the woods.”

I tapped my fingers on the desktop. My father cleared his throat. “Nikolai, it’s after midnight now. Our men need rest, most haven’t even eaten. You must know when it’s time to quit.”

I growled back at him. “I will not quit on her.”

My father bit his lip and drew nearer to me. “I understand your anger, my son. I do. But let them get their rest and eat tonight, and we can resume the search in shifts at first light.”

I looked around at the faces in the room. He was right. Everyone was exhausted. I’d had every available wolf that wasn’t in the infirmary helping with the search. 

“Go,” I said. “Eat, sleep… We’ll reconvene in the morning.”

Everyone left except Dimitri, who stayed behind. “Do you need something, Dimitri?”

“Pipa Fournier,” he said. “Shouldn’t you have some kind of security on her and her sister? What if they come back for them, too… Or,”

“Or what?”

“What if no one’s taken them, Nikolai? Your father can’t get through to any of them on the mind-link. You know that means they could have—”

“Don’t say it.” I looked at him forebodingly. “Isadora would never.”

“If they’ve gone rogue, and denounced the pack… it would make sense that your father wouldn’t be able to reach them.”

“Isadora wouldn’t leave without her sisters,” 

“Which is exactly why we should have them on lockdown.”

I went to the office door and opened it, motioning for him to step ahead of me. “I think I’ll speak with Pipa and determine that for myself.” I said, stepping into the annex hallway.

Arriving at Pipa’s doorway I was about to knock, when I heard her voice from down the hall. “Nikolai?”

She was making her way towards me, holding a laundry basket on one hip, and holding Carina’s hand with the other.

“Pipa,” I nodded to her. “I need a word.”

She sighed, looking to Carina and back at me. “Let me get her tucked in and then I’ll be out.”

I stepped aside, and she and Carina went into the room together. I stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall while I waited. She emerged a few minutes later, closing the door behind her.

“Sorry,” she said. “She doesn’t want to sleep alone tonight. I probably shouldn’t be long.”

“Understandable. I’m sure it’s a confusing, scary time for her.”

Pipa nodded slowly. “Look, I know what you’re going to ask me. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told your father. Nikolai, I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t speak for Marisol after her actions tonight— hell, I’m not sure I know my father well enough to even speak for him. But I can tell you, whatever this is… Isa couldn’t have anything to do with it.”

I frowned. “I know that. And you know that. But it doesn’t look good, Pipa.”

She agreed. “I know what people think of her… because she’s Ivan Petrova’s daughter. It’s easy to imagine why she might have a grudge, losing her father and her brother. But that’s not Isadora. The only thing she’s guilty of is wanting a fresh start where that wasn’t her story.”

I raised my brow, concerned. “You mean she thought about leaving the pack?”

I felt struck by the thought, Dimitri’s suggestion that she may have left to live as a rogue ringing fresh in my ears.

Pipa frowned. “For a time it’s all she talked about, Nikolai. But over the last couple weeks… well, she’s taking on a new job, an apartment lease… and all of it seems to revolve around you. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she thinks you might be a reason worth sticking around for, even if she won’t see it herself.” She rolled her eyes.

“I take it you’re not a fan of that?”

“Of you?” She laughed. “Not particularly… But I’m a fan of whatever makes Isa happy, especially if that happiness keeps her here. There’s no step about it, Nikolai. She’s as much my sister as if we shared a womb, as far as I’m concerned.”

I nodded, understanding. “You’ll tell me if you hear anything from her?”

“I promise.”

***

Isa’s POV

I stirred awake again, unsure how much time had passed. At least this time I could move. I sat up, arching my back. My whole body seemed to ache all over and felt heavy. As I stretched my neck from side to side I took in my surroundings. I was in a windowless metal room, on a simple metal bed with a thin mattress. My ankle was cuffed to one of the rungs at the foot of the frame. In the corner was a toilet/sink combination unit. It was as if I was in a cell.

I scooched down to the end of my bed, and rubbed my ankle. It was raw where the cuff had met the skin. When my fingers made contact with the metal I understood why— the cuffs were silver. I gasped, pulling my fingers back. Just then I heard a click and a small beep. I looked towards the door, expecting that someone was coming. Instead I heard a familiar voice come from the ceiling.

“Careful not to touch those too much. I plan to promise to deliver you back to Cuyahoga Valley safe and sound, healthy and uninjured. Please don’t make a liar out of me.”

I looked around for a speaker or a camera. I couldn’t see one. “Jay? Is that you? Why are you doing this?”

“Patience, Isadora.” He said with a sigh. “They’ve pulled back their patrols now. Between the amount of sick in their infirmary, and running what’s left of their healthy wolves ragged while looking for you? They’ll be working with limited resources, limited energy. I’m sure they’ll play nice and we’ll have you back home soon, if that’s what you decide you still want.”

“Phineas will never trade his son for me. You’ve misjudged him if you think he will.”

“You’re the one who misjudges, Isadora. We have no desire to punish the son for the sins of the father.”

“Then what do you want from him?”

“I’m sending someone along with clothes and food for you. I’ll let you have a shower, and then we can have this conversation in person over a meal, hm?”

I heard another click and the room was silent again.

About ten minutes later the large metal door to my left creaked open. A large man with a full salt and pepper beard and a long black braid running down his shoulder appeared in the doorway. He reminded me a bit of a biker, wearing a leather vest over his t-shirt underneath, with a pair of jeans on. He grunted at me with a nod, and brought a cart into the room. On the cart were various medical supplies, like gauze and antiseptic. He kneeled down at the foot of the bed, grabbing my ankle firmly in his hand.

“Let me go!” I attempted to shake his grip off with a kick.

“Calm yourself,” he tightened his grip on my ankle, pressing it into the mattress. “I’m going to heal these silver burns if you’ll let me, girl.”

I stopped moving my ankle and relaxed, observing him suspiciously as he reached back to the cart for an amber colored bottle. He removed the stopper and revealed a dropper. He filled it up before letting a few drops of red liquid fall on my raw skin.

I flinched as it stung. But then right before my eyes it began to heal.

“I’ve never seen anything work like that on a silver burn,” I said.

He was unraveling the bandages now, and he replied, “Wolves’ blood. Wild wolves; the ones in nature.”

“A wolf’s blood does that?”

He smiled as he began to bandage up my healing skin. “They’re powerful creatures, our cousins. We make the mistake of believing we’re the better species because we can shift, without considering maybe they’re superior… because they don’t need to.”

“So what’s the bandage for?” I asked.

He frowned. “So you don’t rub the cuff anymore. Best to keep your hands off of it, too.”

Finished, the man looked from me to the open door and he whistled. Another man entered the room. This one was closer to my age, although still older than me. He had black hair, too, but his fell loosely around his shoulders. 

“Put the cart back, then tell Marisol that her daughter’s awake. I’m going to show the girl to the showers. She can meet her there with clothes when she’s done.”

The younger man nodded to him, then looked at me and frowned as he took the cart in his hands.

“Don’t mind Vlad,” the first man said. “He’s not a very trusting man, that one.”

“I think I heard him talking to my mother earlier, while I was asleep.” I looked around again. “What is this place? Where am I?”

He exhaled slowly as he took a key ring off of his belt loop. “This is our home, for now at least. For boys like Vlad, it’s all he’s ever known of home. But you’re here now. And hopefully that will change soon.”

“Why would my being here change that? Where is ‘here’ anyways?”

He turned over the key in my ankle cuff, and removed it, tucking it into his pocket. When I went to move my ankle he turned his vest over, showing me the inside of it. There was a syringe full of a cloudy liquid tucked inside of it.

“That’s diluted wolfsbane,” he said. “Don’t try anything dumb, kid. Your mom might rip my hair out by my braid if I have to use that on you. Understand?”

I nodded, and he let his vest fall shut, extending a hand to me. “My name’s Maximus. You can call me Max.”

I hesitantly took his hand. He smiled. “Let’s get at it then.”

As he helped me to my feet he put an arm over my shoulder to steady me. “You’re gonna feel a bit of unsteadiness on your feet for a bit. That’s normal. We’ll get you to the handicap shower, so you have a handle to grab onto.” 

I kept nodding as he spoke, but I was paying attention to my surroundings more than I was him. We were going down a narrow hallway, with cells just like the one I’d been in. When we reached the end of the hall there was an elevator shaft to our right, and a stairwell to our left.

“Elevator hasn’t worked in years.” Max said. “Lucky for you, we’re only going up one floor.”

When we emerged through the door at the next floor we were at the end of a hallway in what seemed to be a commercial building. Frosted glass doors lined the way ahead of us to the right. Down the hall and to our left, we stopped in front of the only door on that side. The engraving on the door read, Allegheny Medical Center. When we stepped inside we were in a small waiting room with a receptionist window in front of us. The room was covered in dust, and the light was pulled out from the ceiling above. Maximus led me through the only other door. A sign on the wall across from us had arrows pointing right and left but its text was faded away. We went right.

A women’s bathroom sign hung above the first door down the hall. Maximus spun around the key ring on his belt loop and after finding the one he’d been looking for, pushed the door open. It looked to be an ordinary communal bathroom. The lights above us buzzed particularly loudly. To my left were a series of shower stalls, with hospital green curtains diving each of them. The stall in the corner was larger than the rest, and I noted the plastic bench that sat inside of it. Max led me over and sat me down on it.

“Well, this part’s all you.” He pointed to the various knobs. “I think you know how a shower works.” He pointed to a white cord with a red tag hanging from the wall by the curtain rod. “When you’re done, just give this a tug. Your mom will be along with a change of clothes for you, alright?”

I only nodded.

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Look, this ain’t got nothing to do with you, even if does have everything to do with you. You don’t have to be scared.”

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

Max patted my shoulder as he turned to leave, “It means it’s gonna be okay, kid.”

I made quick work of the barely lukewarm shower, realizing very soon after I turned the water on that I hadn’t been given any soap or shampoo. So after I rinsed myself off, I let my hand trace up the side of the wall to find the pull string before I turned off the water.

“Isa?” My mother pulled back the shower curtain, two striped towels in her arms. She smiled at me. “I've got towels,” she offered them to me.

I couldn’t help but glare at her as I took the first one, wrapping it around myself. She motioned to the second one, adding, “I know how you like to have another one for your hair.” I said nothing as I took the second towel, too.

“I’ve got some clothes that another girl here offered up for you. She’s a couple inches taller than you, so I’m not sure about the pants. You might have to roll those up. But the shirt’s a small, so it should—”

“Mom, what is this?” I slowly stepped out from the shower now that I was wrapped up. “Where the hell are we?”

She hesitated to speak, setting the clothes she held down on the edge of a bathroom sink. “Isa... It’s just not my place to—”

“Drop the bullshit mom, where the f**k are we? Where’s Leon? Are Pipa and Carina here, too?” I realized I was nearly shouting now.

She swallowed. “Honey, you’ve gotta keep your voice down here. They’re not just gonna let you carry on, understand? This all stays peaceful as long as you do.”

“Jesus, do you hear yourself? We are being held god-knows-where by who-knows—”

“We’re not being held, Isa. Once you’ve sat down and talked with him, he’ll let you go if that’s what you want.”

“Who will, mom? Why am I here?” I leaned against the sink, feeling unsteady now.

She shook her head and backed away towards the door. “Please, get dressed. I’ll be right outside.”

As she closed the door behind her I turned to my reflection in the mirror, seeing the tears that had come pouring down my cheeks, and I threw my fist into the glass. It cracked. I slid down to the floor where I sat against the cold brick wall, crying as I examined my bloodied knuckles.

After what felt like an eternity had passed I finally decided I should put on the clothes my mother had left for me. As she predicted, the jeans were far too long for me. Fortunately they were straight legs and could be rolled up easily enough and pass for wearable. There weren’t any undergarments in the clothes my mom had brought, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers.

When I emerged from the bathroom she was waiting patiently for me. Maximus was with her. He looked at my knuckles and grunted. “I guess I’ll go get the wolf’s blood again.” My mom led us back through the reception area and into the strange office area. This time we went to the other end of the hall, where there was a main waiting area and a desk. There were windows here, and I could see that it was dark outside. My mother stopped at the desk to grab two flashlights, passing one to Maximus. They each turned them on and she pushed open a pair of double doors and we stepped into the darkness. 

With the flashlights illuminating just a few feet ahead of us, I could hardly make out my surroundings. But we followed along a paved sidewalk and I could see the outlines of other buildings nearby, each which seemed as dark and abandoned as the next. But there was one just a few lots down from the building we’d just left, and I could see that almost every light inside was on.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Home,” Maximus said, adding, “Looks like everyone’s awake. They must be about ready.”

“Ready for what?” I said, knowing his words for intended for my mother, and not me.

We stopped in front of the building now. It was a three story brick colonial, with an iron garden fence surrounding the perimeter. A singular round window was illuminated within a dormer on the roof. Maximus pushed the gate open, and I followed him up onto the porch. He pushed the front door open, and I was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of food.

I breathed in deeply and Max smiled at me. “The boss man will be in the dining room. I imagine you’ll be happy about that.” He looked to my mother. “Why don’t you take her to him; I’ll get a plate put together for her.”

My mother nodded, leading me by the arm to the left as Maximus departed right.

We passed through a living area, where several people sat on couches or the floor with plates in their laps. They all stopped eating and watched me intently. A little girl sat on the edge of a man’s lap and asked, “Is that her Papa?” And he hushed the child. 

I was trying not to make eye contact with any of the onlookers, suddenly feeling very much the center of attention, when I bumped into a large dining table. My mother had already stopped about a foot behind me. When I looked up from my feet I saw him, smiling eagerly at me as he chewed his food. I was aware that Leon sat to his right. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of the familiar face, as he wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

“There she is!” He motioned to the seat to the left of him. “Come, have a seat Izzy. We have much to talk about. A lifetime to catch up on, really.”

I couldn’t bring myself to speak or even move as I watched him. He stood to his feet, pushing the empty chair beside him out for me. “Sorry, do you prefer Isa? Or Isadora maybe? You know, in my head, you’ll probably always be Izzy. It’s become an affectionate habit over the years, really.”

He paused, waiting for my reply. When I still couldn’t speak he continued. “It does seem silly now that I’ve said that aloud. I mean, I can’t imagine you still go around calling me—” he paused, looking to my mother. “What was that she always said?”

“Juju,” my mother said quietly.

“Right. Juju. That was cute.” He began to walk around the table towards me, and I could feel my pulse quickening. “But I guess that was a long time ago. So,” he leaned an elbow on the back of the chair closest to me, “What would like me call you then?”

“You’re… You’re…” I felt frozen in place to the ground, shaking my head all the while.

“Julius, if you prefer to skip over the nicknames.” He said simply. "I didn't really care for Jay anyways."

“No, you’re…”

“Very much not dead? Yeah, we should talk about that.”