Chapter 6: Silver Bullets
1098 Words
I sat in silence for a moment, both of us trying to think of any option that didn't end with us dead.
And then I remembered.
"Wait," I said slowly as I remembered. "Dante... he took me to meet his friend a few weeks ago."
"Friend?" Kira asked.
"Yea" I closed my eyes, trying to remember that night. "Ezra Vargas. He runs a bar in the eastern part of town. Dante said that if anything ever happened to him, I should go to Ezra. That he would help me."
Do you trust him?
"I don’t" I responded to Kira. "… but I trust Dante."
***
It took us three hours to make it to Ezra's bar. It wouldn't have taken that long if Kira knew the city better.
It looked exactly like I remembered it as I stood across the street, staring at it, my courage failing.
"We have to do this," Kira said quietly.
"But what if they find us here?"
"Then we run. Or fight. We don't have any other option."
I knew she was right.
I took a deep breath and crossed the street.
The bouncer at the door looked surprised to see me, maybe it's because I looked familiar, or maybe because I looked like I barely survived the night.
"I need to see Ezra," I said, "Tell him Dante sent me."
Something flickered in the bouncer's eyes at Dante's name. "Wait here."
He disappeared inside and while I waited, Kira was restless.
About five minutes later, the door opened again.
"Come with me."
I followed him through the bar, past tables of people drinking, to a private room in the back.
And there he was.
Ezra Vargas sat behind a massive desk, looking exactly like I remembered.
"Ella," he said, his voice smooth and controlled. "I heard about Dante. I’m so sorry."
"He doesn't sound sorry," Kira muttered.
"Please," I said, sounding desperate. "Dante told me if anything happened to him, you would help me."
Ezra leaned back in his chair, with an expression I couldn’t understand. "Did you know what Dante was?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
"And you know what he did? What he stole?"
I pulled the memory card from my pocket with shaking hands. "I have this. I don't know what's on it, but if this is what he stole, you can have it.... please help me. I have nowhere else to go."
Ezra stared at the flash drive for a moment, then sighed. "There's a hit on you, Ella. Helping you would make me a lot of enemies."
My heart sank. "Please…"
"But," he continued, holding up his hand, "I owe Dante a debt for saving my life." He picked up his phone. "I'll help you disappear so you can start over somewhere new."
For the first time since the attack, I felt relieved . "Thank you so much. I'll do whatever you want…"
"Come with me," Ezra said, gesturing to the doorway. "Let's get you somewhere safe."
"Something feels off," Kira whispered in my head.
"We dont have another choice Kira" I responded in my head
"He didn't even say anything about the flash drive!" Kira shot back
I ignored Kira, following him to a black SUV parked behind the bar.
"Get in." He gestured to the passenger seat. "I'll take you to one of our safehouses."
I slid in. Ezra took the wheel.
And that's when I saw it.
A gun, partially visible where his jacket had shifted.
"What's with the gun?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual even as Kira went on high alert in my mind.
He glanced at me. "Security. Nothing to worry about."
"Ella!" Kira called out suddenly. "That gun has silver bullets. I can smell it"
My blood immediately ran cold, because somehow I knew what silver bullets are.
"Why would Ezra need silver bullets Ella?" Kira nagged. " Is he is a Hunter"
He pulled out his phone as a notification poped up on his screen.He put on a bluetooth earbud, played the voice note, then started driving.
The voice was faint, but clear enough.
"....Take her out and do it quietly… and don't forget the memory card."
"Ella, It was him all along," Kira cried as the world slowed down. "... and we walked right into his hands.
I lunged forward without thinking, reaching for the gun.
"What the!"
His hand caught my wrist as we struggled, then he started shifting before my eyes, growling.
The car veered wildly out of control, and crashed hard. Glass shattering all around us.
The impact drove the air from my lungs, and pain exploded through my entire body.
When the world stopped spinning, we were upside down. The car had flipped completely, landing on its roof.
I hung suspended by the seatbelt, my head pounding. Somewhere to my left, a massive, black wolf was stuck, wedged against the crumpled driver's door, one of his huge arms trapped beneath the caved-in roof.
"Ella." Kira's voice was sharp. "The gun. Get the gun."
I fumbled with the seatbelt and fell hard onto what used to be the ceiling. Pain screamed up through my palms, my knees.
There. Kira directed my eyes to the gun, half-buried under broken glass near Ezra's outstretched hand.
I grabbed it.
Now finish him, Kira said.
I looked at him, his breathing shallow and ragged.
"No!".
"He had Dante killed, he was about to killed us."
"I know!"
"He will try again if you don’t kill him."
"I know that too!" My voice came out steadier than I felt as I tightened my grip on the gun and started crawling toward the shattered window.
"You're going to regret this, Ella".
As I crawled toward the shattered window, a broken glass cut through my knee as I pulled myself out of the crash.
Behind me, I heard it.
"Ella."
Ezra's voice. Rough and fractured, barely recognizable.
"I'm stuck, I can't move my legs."
I refused to look back.
"Please, help me."
I kept walking.
"… don't leave me here like this."
I slowed. My grip on the gun tightened but I still didn’t look back.
"You think you're safe?" His voice changed. "You think you can walk away from this? You have idea what you've walked into."
I turned the corner and continued walking. Soon his voice faded behind me, and then there was only the night, and the distant hum of the city, as I found myself thinking about Dante. About Ezra and the gun with silver bullets.
But why would Ezra, a werewolf, carry silver bullets?
- Writer
