Asphalt Moon

Chapter 7: The Calm Before

I didn't sleep after my dad left.

The motel room was dark. Nellie had taken the bed again. Cade was in the chair, still passed out. His hand was on his knife. Even asleep, he was ready.

I sat by the window and watched the parking lot.

The moon was slipping down the sky. Another hour and the sun would come up. Then we'd have seventeen hours until midnight. Seventeen hours until Hale.

My phone buzzed.

Tío Ray: I meant what I said. Run if it goes bad.

I typed back: I know.

Then: I love you, Dad.

His reply came a minute later: Love you too, mija. Now sleep.

I couldn't. But I closed my eyes anyway.

Morning came too fast.

Nellie was already up, eating a bag of chips in bed. Crumbs everywhere.

"You're a monster," I said.

"You're a bad influence."

"I didn't hand you those chips."

"Your energy did."

I threw a pillow at her. She caught it and kept chewing.

Cade stretched in the chair. His neck was crooked. He winced.

"Next time, I take the bed."

"There's not going to be a next time," I said.

"Optimistic. I like it."

There was a knock on the door. Three quick raps. Damon's pattern.

Cade opened it. Damon stood there with a handful of coffee cups and a paper bag.

"Breakfast," he said. "Eat fast. We have work to do."

He set everything on the tiny table. Biscuits. Eggs. Something that smelled like bacon.

Nellie was out of bed before the bag touched the surface.

"I take back everything bad I said about you."

"You said bad things about me?"

"I said a lot of things. Now I'm taking them back."

Damon looked at me. "She always like this?"

"Worse."

We ate in silence. It was weird. Sitting there with Cade and Damon in the same room. No fighting. No growling. Just eggs and coffee.

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After breakfast, Damon spread the map on the bed.

"Midnight. Full moon. Hale does a ritual in the main house. Everyone will be watching him. That's when we go in."

He pointed to the drainage pipe.

"This is our entrance. It's tight. Only one person at a time. I'll go first. Then Lena. Then Cade."

"Why you first?" Cade asked.

"Because if there's a trap, I'm the only one who might survive it."

I didn't like that answer. But I didn't argue.

"What about me?" Nellie asked.

"You stay at the pipe entrance. Watch our backs. If you see anyone coming, you whistle."

"I don't know how to whistle."

"Then yell."

"I'm good at yelling."

Damon nodded. "Once we're inside, we split. I find my mother's journal. Cade finds Hale. Lena stays with me."

"No," I said. Again.

"You don't know how to fight wolves."

"Then teach me. You said you would."

Damon looked at Cade. Cade shrugged.

"She's stubborn," Cade said.

"I noticed."

We went back to the field behind the motel.

The sun was up now. Hot. The grass was brown and crackly under my boots.

Damon stood across from me. Arms crossed.

"Try again. Close your eyes."

I closed them.

"Breathe."

I breathed.

"Find the anger. The fear. The thing that makes your chest tight."

My mom's face. The Elder's smile. Joel's body.

"I have it."

"Now imagine you're bigger. Stronger. Imagine the wolf is already there. You're not calling it. You're just… opening the door."

I tried.

Nothing.

"Again."

I tried again.

Nothing.

"Again."

"I can't!" I opened my eyes. "It's not there."

Damon walked closer. "It is there. You're just scared to let it out."

"Maybe I don't want to let it out."

"Then you're going to die tonight."

The words hit like a slap.

"Damon…"

"I'm not being mean. I'm being honest. Hale's wolves won't hold back. Greta won't hold back. If you can't defend yourself, you're dead. And then Cade is dead. And then Nellie is dead." He stepped back. "So get angry, Lena. Really angry. Or go home."

I stood there. Breathing hard.

Cade was by the fence. Watching. His face was unreadable.

I thought about my mom. About Joel. About the Elder sitting in his chair, smiling like he'd already won.

My hands clenched into fists.

Something cracked inside my chest.

Not bone. Something else. Something deep.

My vision blurred.

And then..

Nothing.

The feeling passed. My hands unclenched. The c***k sealed itself.

Damon stared at me. "You felt that."

"Yes."

"That was the wolf. Trying to wake up."

"Why didn't it?"

"Because you pushed it back down." He shook his head. "You're not ready. But we don't have more time."

He walked back toward the motel.

Cade came over. Put his hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?"

"No. I'm scared."

"Me too." He turned me to face him. "But we're doing this anyway. Together."

"Together."

The afternoon crawled.

Nellie went to the gas station for more snacks. Cade cleaned his knife. Damon sat on the hood of his bike, staring at nothing.

I sat in the motel room with the journal.

Trust your heart. Not the bond. Not the pack. Not the moon.

I read it again and again.

Mom. What would you do?

The answer came quiet. Like a whisper.

She'd fight.

At 6 PM, Tío Ray showed up again.

He walked into the room without knocking. Looked at the map on the bed. Looked at Cade. Looked at me.

"You're really doing this."

"Yes."

He pulled out a key. Tossed it to me.

"What's this?"

"The safe in the garage. There's a box inside. Silver bullets. Your mother kept them for emergencies."

I held the key. It was warm from his pocket.

"Dad…"

"Don't thank me. Just come back." His voice cracked. "Please."

I hugged him. Tight. He smelled like coffee and grease and home.

"I'll come back," I said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He left without looking back. I watched him drive away.

Then I turned to the others.

"Let's gear up."

At 9 PM, we left the motel.

Two bikes. Me and Cade on the Harley. Damon on his Triumph. Nellie on the back of my bike, tire iron strapped to her backpack.

The road was dark. No streetlights. Just the moon and our headlights.

Hale's compound was twenty miles away.

Twenty miles to the fight.

Twenty miles to answers.

I drove fast. The wind whipped my hair. Cade's arms were around my waist. Behind us, Damon's headlight bobbed like a second moon.

Nellie shouted something. I couldn't hear her over the engine.

I didn't need to.

We all knew what was coming.

At 10:30 PM, we stopped at the tree line.

Hale's compound was a quarter mile ahead. Fences. Lights. Guards walking the perimeter.

Damon pulled out binoculars. "Eight men. Same as before. But Greta isn't here."

"That's worse," Cade said. "She's hunting."

"Or waiting inside." Damon put the binoculars away. "Doesn't matter. We stick to the plan."

Nellie held up her tire iron. "I'm ready."

"You stay at the pipe. Watch. Yell if you see anyone."

"I said I'm ready."

Damon looked at me. "Last chance. You can still walk away."

"I'm tired of walking."

He nodded. "Then let's go."

We moved through the trees. Quiet. Slow.

The drainage pipe was hidden behind a stack of old pallets. Rusted. Smelling like mud and something dead.

Damon pulled out a flashlight. Shined it inside.

"Empty. I go first. Wait thirty seconds. Then Lena. Then Cade."

He dropped into the pipe. His boots splashed in the water.

I counted.

One. Two. Three…

At thirty, I climbed in.

The water was cold. Up to my ankles. The pipe was narrow. My shoulders scraped the sides.

I moved fast. Breathing through my mouth.

Ahead, I saw Damon's light.

Behind me, Cade's boots splashed.

Then the pipe opened up. A basement. Dark. Concrete walls. Shelves of old supplies.

Damon was already at the stairs. Gun in his hand. Silver bullets.

"Journal is in Hale's office," he whispered. "Second floor. Cade, you find Hale. Lena, you stay with me."

"No."

"Lena.."

"I'm finding Hale. You get the journal."

Damon stared at me. Then nodded. "Fine. But don't die."

"I don't plan on it."

We moved up the stairs.

The basement door was unlocked.

I pushed it open.

And walked into hell.