A Pack Of His Own (Ch. 06)

"Faith's a complicated thing, Will," Dina sighed. "And most people go through a lot of journeys trying to figure out what it means to them. It can last a lifetime, even more."

"You're Jewish, I'm guessing, what with a last name like Getschmann," Will said, a soft smile on his face.

"Israeli born and bred," she confirmed. "But as devout as I am, I believe that loving everyone is the most important thing any of us can do. You a religious man, Will?"

Will shrugged. "I'm not of any particular faith. Not against any one either, even if April might think I'm a little touchy when it comes to spirituality. I just don't like hypocrites, and people trying to tell others what they can and can't do with their lives. But you wanna go to Temple on Saturdays, have at it. That's between you and your God, and I respect and honor that."

"All of this within just a handful of months sounds like it's been a bit of a whirlwind," she said. "Anything else I should know about?"

Will paused and for the first time, he felt like maybe he could talk about all the weird coincidences he'd had for the last few months. "There's... been all these... odd things happening," Will said. "Sometimes I think there's people following me, but it doesn't feel like it's the same person. I told Lacey and April about that, and we've sort of found four people who seem to be around us an unusually large amount of the time. Three men and one woman. A couple of them I think are students, but I don't think all of them are. Weirdly, once we realized who they were, though, I realized a pair of them were klutzes who'd been continually bumping into me."

"Bumping into you?"

"Spilling drinks on me, that kind of thing," he said. "But that's only the beginning of the weirdness. Someone scattered a bunch of plants around my house, which I had to clean up. There were the two robbers who I stood up to in the dinner, who took one look at me, unarmed and calm, and just ran away. And... and there was the bullet."

That stopped Dina in her tracks. "Excuse me?"

Will moved over to the laundry room for a second and came back with the thing in his hand, holding it out to her. "Here you go. Found it on my windshield."

"Well, first off, this isn't a bullet, it's a cartridge," Dina said. "It's got the bullet on it, but the rest of this bit's a cartridge. Odd there's no powder in it. You don't normally put a bullet into a cartridge without powder because it won't fucking do anything. Without powder, it won't fire. And it feels funny for a normal shell."

He cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Dina smirked at him. "I'm a single woman nearly in my thirties. If you think I haven't been at the gun range a few times, you're out of your mind. But... is this silver?" She laughed for a second. "What are you, a werewolf or something?"

"Clearly not," he said, taking the cartridge from her once more. "Because I can handle silver just fine."

"Oh, that's a common misconception about werewolf lore," Dina said. "Silver can harm them, but it's not toxic to the touch. At least, it's not in the old Germanic stories."

"Did a lot of reading about werewolves, have we?" Will teased.

"Werewolves and vampires," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "I got caught up in the Twilight craze like most women my age, except I made a point out of doing all the actual research, because even as a fangirl I was a geek. And yeah, a lot of the stories about mythological creatures are either full of contradictions, or all center on some shit someone made up like a hundred years ago. The bit about werewolves being vulnerable to silver actually goes back to the 15^th century, though, which means it isn't just some shit a single writer made up."

"You think someone thinks I'm a werewolf?" Will said. "Don't people have to be bitten by a werewolf to turn into a werewolf?"

"That's vampires, Will, and even that's just speculation. Werewolf bites don't do anything. They're not fucking zombies, Will. They aren't out hunting for brains and turning anyone they bite. But you said these two guys were spilling things on you?"

"I definitely smelled of garlic at one point."

Dina frowned. "That's historically for vampires. I don't think it does shit against werewolves in any story."

"They might have also tried holy water."

"Again," Dina laughed, "vampires."

"I think I also got smacked around a bit by some iron chains at some point."

"And that's supposed to be ghosts," Dina said, laughing even harder now. "What the hell? Are you being followed by the Four Stooges who are convinced you're some kind of paranormal monster but don't know which kind? The Keystone Cops Creature Hunters?"

Will put his hands up in the air, laughing with her. "I'm not any kind of monster! At least I don't think so, but then again, I guess that's what any monster would say, wouldn't he?"

"Well," she giggled, moving in to wrap her arms around his waist, cuddling against him. "I certainly don't think you're a monster, unless maybe it's a sex monster, but even then, I don't know what kind of monster that would be. Or if it would even be a bad thing."

He looked outside and sure enough, the snow had come down hard over the night, and the streets hadn't yet been plowed. He sighed a bit, shaking his head. "Looks like we're basically snowed in, or at least the cars are."

"I'll put the coffee pot on," Dina said as he opened another cupboard to show where the grounds and filters were. "Although do you think it's walking weather?"

"You have a hankering?"

"You've got a Burger King like two blocks away," she said. "I'd kill for one of their breakfast croissants, you know the ones, with ham, egg and sausage."

He smirked a little bit. "Isn't ham and cheese, like, the complete opposite of kosher?"

"I love my religion, William," Dina chuckled, "but God knows me well enough to tell me what I can and can't eat. Some rules are made to be broken. And I am as my creator made me."

"Yeah, okay. I can put on some clothes and walk there and back, although the food may have cooled a little bit by the time I get back."

"That's why microwaves were invented," she shot back. "Just bring, like, a whole bunch of them, in case April or Lacey wants one, because I think I want like two or three. I'm fucking starving. You've awoken quite the appetite inside of me. Oh, what was the neck bite thing about? You marking your territory or something?"

"It's something... I dunno, I feel compelled to do it the first time I'm with a new partner, but just the first time," Will said. "I'm not even sure why I did it. I just find myself doing it and then thinking about it afterwards. Did it to Lacey and April both as well, and they seemed to heal up fine."

"Well, it wasn't too deep, so I suppose it's fine, as long as it's not going to happen every time."

Will got dressed and bundled up hard, grabbing a thermal bag to try and help keep the food warm on the way back, knowing it was going to be blistering cold outside, and the minute he stepped foot out his front door, he wasn't disappointed. The wind was strong enough that Will tried to keep close the fences, because even as strong as he was, he wasn't entirely certain he could keep his feet on the ground, a little worried that he might get lifted up and off his feet by a particularly strong gust. But he planted his feet down hard and barreled forward, each step taking sizable effort.

He was already more than a little annoyed that he'd agreed to go and get breakfast, but the further he walked, the hungrier he got, so he supposed he could get his and eat it there, then get a second order with the girls' food.

The Burger King was open, although he was almost certain the only cars he saw in the parking lot were for whichever poor souls had been forced to come into work this morning. And as soon as he set foot inside of the restaurant, he could see his suspicions confirmed - not a customer in sight.

He placed an order just for a breakfast sandwich, some hashbrowns and some orange juice. The people behind the counter actually looked thankful to have someone to focus on for a minute, and went to work at getting his food ready.

Will had a couple of minutes to wait and he turned to look out into the blizzard when the door opened up again and a large hulking man, dark hair hanging down past his shoulders, a big black beard down to his collarbone, a heavy parka on as well as thick snow pants, as he moved into the Burger King, having to forcibly pull the door closed behind him.

"It's cold out there, isn't it?" Will asked the man.

"Mmm," the man said. "Coffee. Black. Biscuit with bacon."

The two of them stood there quietly waiting for their food, but eventually both orders arrived at the same time. Will grabbed his tray and moved over to sit down at one of the booths, as the big bulky man followed him, looking down at Will for a second.

"You mind if I join you?"

Will frowned for a second, glancing around at the completely empty restaurant. "It's not like there isn't an open chair everywhere you look."

"Sure, but I thought we could just have a chance to few minutes to talk, Will, away from everyone and everything."

Will's eyes narrowed a little bit. "How do you know my name?"

"I've been keeping tabs on you, making sure you didn't get in too far over your head. I'm your uncle, Pavel," he said, offering a soft smile. "Your father's brother. Can I sit?"

Blankly, Will could only gesture for the man to join him.