All the Devils are Here

Heading South

It’s been a few days since we had the meeting with the elders and it was decided that I will be going to represent the wolves at the council meeting. I suppose it was ridiculous of me to assume that we could keep Xavier’s death a secret. The minute other wolves hear that I was the one that went in his place, they’d start putting two and two together. Plus the elders already heard about it which means the news is out there.

Today is the day we are supposed to go Mantem. Asher and I agreed that it’d be better if he remained here while I go with Dothan and Lex. Mara isn’t currently aware that we are going there. I hope Lex didn’t tell her. I asked him to get as much information off of her about why they were there, who they came in contact with, anything that could be potwntially useful. Mara is not a fool; she knows we are up to something.

I know Lex isn’t pleased with the idea that I suspect Mara of anything shady but, even Lucien said it -it’s possible that the people responsible for orchestrating some of the weird things that have been happening are among us.

It’s the wee hours of the morning now and I'm on my way to the last place I want to be right now; the White Rabbit. We’re supposed to meet up just outside the city later in the day but, before I leave, I have to make sure that the Red room is left in the right hands. I don’t know how long I’d be gone for. We could go for the council meeting right after we are done in Mantem which means I could be gone for over a week.

Usually, only Asher, Lex, Dothan and I go into the Red room but Lucien was right - it is mine. Just like the White rabbit is mine but, I forget sometimes. Dont get it twisted, I didn’t invent torturing Hunters or chaining them up - that’s a common act in the werewolf community. It’s a bit symbolic because for years, this is the way we had been treated. Chained and brutally tortured for several reasons. It’s only pay back.

Creating the White Rabbit was a purely business move and to appease my debauchery and create a safe space for my kind. The Red room however is my personal input; a representation of the darker sides of being what we are. The madness that is tactically surrounded by all the beauty that is the White Rabbit. My father loved it.

I pull outside of the building but, I lowkey don’t want to be here. The person I intend to bring into the Red room is Rick. I haven’t forgotten about the Hunter who we were interrogating for Derek’s death suddenly mysteriously died. Well, not that it was a mystery, he bled to death apparently. But I can’t afford for that to happen again. I need someone to make it their responsibility to make sure that the Hunter we have in the Red room stays alive. I don’t know what use he’d be to this cause yet but, whatever it is, he’d need to be alive for it. Asher might be too busy to play babysitter because we thought it’d be best if he keeps an eye on the elders and gets in on their plan to round up the rest of the wolves. Not only is he inserting himself with Lucien and his crew but, he’s also talking to other packs. Most of them like Asher and it’d be good if this whole lets be one thing looked like our idea not that the elders came up with the idea and we just went along.

Rick is the right guy for the job because he works here, he’s a Delta wolf and, he’s afraid of me. There’s only one reason why I’m dreading entering this building and that’s because of the girl that talks in her sleep and gets mad at me for telling her that she talked in her sleep when she's the one who asked me. Clearly, I am not over this. I’m upset but, maybe it was for the best that she left.

I make my way into the building barely acknowledging anyone or anything. Rick is on the same floor as Hera; the 2nd floor and that just makes my skin crawl in all the places. I pass Trinity on the ground floor being the center of attention as usual. She blows me a kiss and because it’s her, I have to fake a tiny smile in return. Trinity makes me think of one of the things Lucien said to me about my mother - ‘it felt like she was one of us even though she never turned’. That’s exactly how it is with Trinity. She’s human but, she’s one of us. I don’t know how much she knows but, I know she knows something. But, Dothan trusts her and she’s been around us for so many years now, I think the rest of us trust her too. Plus she’s an excellent dancer s***h manager.

I take the stairs and walk up to the 2nd floor where my eyes immediately fins her involuntarily. She is making a drink for a bunch of guys who look like frat boys and way more interested in her than in their drink. She’s smiling. Great, the person I’m stressing over doesn’t even give a s**t. I guess I’m better off not giving a s**t either. Next, my eyes wander off to Rick’s counter which is crowded as usual. I consider heading over there but, it’s a lot of people so instead I do that thing where you stare holes into a person until they feel it and look at you. It works. When he looks at me, I cork my head to the side letting him know that we need to talk outside. To my annoyance, he directs his customers towards Hera’s counter and that gets her attention. In the midst of her looking at the new set of people walking up to her to order, she finally notices me. The smile on her face wanes off a little but, I don’t stay to see the end of it. I start to head into the elevator and wait for Rick to follow me. He does.

“Hey”, Rick says a little drunkenly and I bet he has been slipping some of that recreational wolfsbane into his drinks.

“Rick what I am about to show you is something you’ve probably heard of countless of times but, never actually seen.”, Other than the four Betas, I know we’ve allowed some pups in here but, it’s only ever to clean the remains of whatever poor Hunter gave up the ghost. I know pups talk but, here’s the thing - no one believes them.

We ride the elevator underground to the floor that houses the Red room and as we step into the hallway, the lights flicker on. We walk past several locked doors until we reach the one. I glance over at Rick and he is beaming in excitement.

Once we are inside, I see how his eyes light up and I am certain that he has heard about this place before. The experience for him must be so much more different from mine. I’ve been in this place way to many times that it just doesn’t thrill me anymore.

The ‘fake’ Hunter is strapped safely to a vertical bed without any chains; just belts. He didn’t kill anyone of us so I thought he didn’t deserve the same treatment as actual Hunters who did. His eyes are shut and he doesn’t respond when we come in but, I can hear his heart beating as he should.

“Who is he?”, Rick asks.

“Wrong question. The right question would be why did I bring you here?”, I say and then proceed to answer the question;

“This man is not here to die. I’m deliberately keeping him alive. But sometimes, they die out of neglect and I cannot let that happen again. I’m entrusting you, Rick to look after him for me.”,

“What…..what happens if he dies?”, Rick asks cautiously. I think this is a good question;

“You don’t want to know. You’re the only one I’m assigning this to because it’s much easier to make an example out of one person”, he nods in understanding. Good.

“Here are the keys, you can lock up when you’re done getting yourself acquainted with the place”, I throw the keys to him and he catches them. Now I can know that I can relax knowing one of my potential sources of information is alive and knowing that if he isn;t by the time I get back, I have someone to punish for it.

I accidentally take the elevator back to the 2nd floor instead of the ground floor and this time once I step in, she sees me. It seems like she is about to say something but, I ignore it and take the stairs back to the ground floor and start making my way out of the building.

“Sam, wait!”, I hear her say. She’s not audible enough in comparison to how loud it is in here but, I pick her voice out of the crowd. And her heartbeat. I make my way outside of the building and right beside my car, i have to make the decision to either wait for her to come out; which I know she will or to leave like she does all the f*****g time.

I hesitate a bit too long and I see her coming through the doors. This is my final chance to leave but, I wait to hear what she has to say first.