The Contract Ch. 01

The Not So Hidden Dilemma

Two days later.

"Sorry for interrupting class," the intercom buzzed on as Mary the secretary spoke. "Here are the evening announcements; can the following students please meet the principal at break; all V.3 boys and C.2 girls and Rosy O'Brian: P4, thank you". The intercom buzzed off. The teacher resumed talking.

"Turn to page 29 Q.24 and-"

The intercom crackled as it was switched back on. "All class final year students are asked to come to the gym, and could all teachers head to the teacher's lounge for a few moments"

The students laughed, as the thought of a few uninterrupted moments with no supervision was always a bonus during class. All the sixth year students made their way to the gym, snippets of their conversations floated through the air as they all voiced their theories of the impromptu disruption of their usually strict time tables.

"Betcha it's because of Joseph, the smelly bastard always letting off stink bombs in class, like a child". This was coming from Melody, the never-kind-final-year-student. They all poured into the gym, and sat in class order, more out of habit than anything else, and waited as the principal stood up. None were quiet, as they continued their discussions, which now ranged from the latest song by Nicki Minaj, to who was getting 'the shift' this Friday at the disco.

"Ladies and gentlemen", there were a few snickers and snide comments about certain people being far from gentlemen. "Folks" Mrs O'Brien snapped. "This is serious business today", she paused and took a deep breath, bracing herself and waited for the students to quieten down. "As some of you know, Brooke Mather's has not been in school for the last few days as she was in a car accident, this morning we received word that her parents have chosen to turn off the ventilator that was keeping her alive, as her injuries were too severe for her to come back from" she stopped, as the sobs of a few people could be heard. "Now, I know this is a horrible and tragic shock, and as such there will be counselling available to all, there will be a few compulsory sessions for each individual in her year, after that it will be up to each individual to attend them".

"Drama queen!" Angie McPherson scoffed.

"Angelica McPherson!" Mrs O'Brien, thundered, "What on earth are you saying? A fellow student has just died!" She got off the stage and moved towards Angie, ager evident on her face. "I know you were not the closest person to Brooke, but that gives you no right to talk about her like that, she has just died!"

"B...But" Angie spluttered in the face of the fury directed at her by her teacher. "I saw her before I came to school; she was in a car heading south". The bleach blond hair on her head whipped around from side to side as she searched for her friends "Majella, you were with me and you saw her too" she pointed an accusing finger at her friend as she sought reassurance that she was not crazy.

Majella raised her hands to her head, and hid most of her face behind them, she nodded her head "I saw Brooke too" she whispered, peering up at her principal from under her fringe, her eyes were large and what skin that was visible under her hands had an unearthly pale parlour to it. "I... I saw her too" she repeated, stuttering, as if trying to reaffirm her own belief in what she saw. She had seen her at the mall, as had Angie, they were not being cruel. They had seen Brooke heading into the outdoors section. Neither of the girls had thought it was important, they had just shrugged and continued on in their daily shopping spree. It was a weekly thing, school started after 12am every Wednesday.

"Girls!" Mrs O'Brien sighed, pausing, unsure of how she should continue. "Girls, I am sorry, but..." She pauses "Brooke is dead and there nothing that can bring her back". She turned to one of the other students, "James".

James looked up at her and sniggered, "Yes miss?"

"Stop sniggering and get the student councillor". She snapped at him. He jumped out of his seat grumbling "fine" as he headed out the door.

The door opened and Sister Mary, the student councillor entered.

"Miss here's Sr. Mary", James sauntered into the room, with a worried looking Sr. Mary following him. "Class, excuse me for just a minute", Mrs. O'Brien motioned for Sr. Mary to follow her out the door. They headed outside and she closed the door. She came back in a few moments later, only to motion for the students to quieten down. 'Your parents have been called, school is cancelled for today and will resume Wednesday, the funeral will be held on Tuesday. There will also be appointments made to see the school councillor this week as well as the following week, with further appointments as necessary".

*Three years later*

"Oi!" The bartender shouted across the dimly light drinks counter, its marbled covering was visible in few places, as years of dust build up had caused it to become discoloured, bar fights had cracked it's once beautiful surface.. "You with the blue hat, Selene says move now!"

"Alright" Rosalie, the woman in the blue hat, hissed at him as she moved towards the booths. She tossed her ebony black hair in disgust, taking orders from this lowly human pawn was ridiculous to her, but she had to do as told, at that moment anyway. It was part of her job, besides a lowly fish like him. He was probably happy to be of help, irregardless of how minor that help was.

"Hey there, handsome" She purred, walking over to a loner of a man. "You look lonely"

"Um!" He looked up at her squinting, "I guess I am". He patted the seat next to him "Why don't you keep me company?" He had a lopsided grin on his face, snorting at some distant memory of his, one he had been reminiscing about before Rosalie had shown up

"Sure sugar," Rosalie grinned at him, "Let me just get us some more drinks". She walked over to the bar and ordered two whiskeys and an orange juice, while doing so a man sidled up to her, his greasy hair and rank unwashed body odour caused bile to rise in Rosalie's mouth, her heightened senses made the experience far more disgusting. "The boss says move now, his friends are looking for him", he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, he slide off the seat and moving away. "Jeez woman I only wanted to talk", he shouted stalking away from her feigning disgust "lezzer!" he shouted when back at his original place, at the entrance to the bar. Rosalie rolled her eyes at his theatrics, she looked at her watch and grabbed the drinks as the bartender set them down, and nodding to him. She looked back to the booth "Put them on my tab".

Rosalie walked back to the booth, "Now, what's your name darling?" She sat down beside him and held out her hand, looking into his green eyes, which were unfocused due to the copious amount of alcohol in his system "Mine's Rosalie!" He grunted and took her hand, his large hands swallowed the small almost-childlike grip Rosalie had on his largely calloused hand. "Cain". They shook hands, after which he let her hand go and grabbed one of the drinks, a whiskey, she had brought over. He slugged it in one go and smirked at her, his intoxicated state caused him to forget about the woman waiting for him, his mate, the future mother of his children. 'Why are you here on your own hunny?' She rolled her eyes waiting for the drunkard of a male to answer, unhappy with the thoughts about what his future held for him, especially when it concerned her.

"Cain" She nudged him and when he didn't move she giggled. "Sugar, looks like you've had too much to drink". He didn't move; he was out cold. The table was covered in bottles and glasses, most of which had been in place before she had arrived, three of which she had brought over after slipping some sleeping pills into them. She groaned and downed the second whiskey. She grabbed his arms and pulled them up, gripping under his arms, just at the pits, she hoisted him as best she could and started to walk. "See ya Jimmy!" She called, out half-carrying, half-dragging the passed-out Cain out the door. Rosalie smiled to herself, thankful she was nearly finished this small part of the job. She dragged Cain over to her car, an amazing feat considering she was only 5ft and Cain was well over 6ft, at least 6ft 4". She let go of his arms, laughing as he hit the tarmac with a soft thump. Letting him go was the only way she could open the door. He was too large and bulky, his body was built up from a combination of both hard grafting and outdoor work. Rosalie lifted him, and position him into a partially upright position, she then gave Cain a push and moved him into the back seat of the car, struggling with his large form. Cain regained consciousness long enough to drag himself the remainder of the way into the car. Rosalie closed it on his foot. He grunted in pain. She laughed, jumped into her seat, started the car up and drove off.

*

The next morning

"Has anyone seen Alpha Cain?" Christopher shouted above the din, the large crowd crammed into the community hall continued to chatter away, most of them were oblivious to the panic in the head enforcer's voice.

"Yeah", Rookie called out, "he got into a car with some sort of cat. She was supporting him... actually", she wagged her finger thinking "Now that I think of it she was lifting him". She froze; realising that what she had just said would get her into a lot of trouble.

"WHAT?" Christopher roared her, confused as to why she did not say it at the time, furious about her lack of disregard for her Alpha's safety "Why didn't you say this Friday or try stop her?"

Rookie stared at him, understanding dawning on her face, their Alpha was in trouble and she was to date the last person to see him. "I was coming into heat and I was with Danielle, I only finished" she finished feebly, her face showed the panic she was feeling.

"Where?" Christopher looked at her, what little patience he had was long gone. "Um Dani" She cleared her throat, gesturing, she asked her mate to help her out. "Blue Moon" Dani replied curtly. Annoyed at herself that they had not taken the time to note the weird behaviour.

Christopher growled at them, disgust clearly visible on his face "Betas come with me, David you check over surveillance at the bar." He stopped and looked around at the large crowd of nervous and fear filled faces "Meeting over" The Betas followed him out of the room into the Alpha's study. "We need Cain back; he has very important information regarding the whereabouts of the cat/wolf group who are attacking different packs. Emma!" He shouted for his second in command, a formidable figure, over six feet tall and a monster of person, her short cropped brunette hair hinted at her military past, while her muscle packed physic showed the high level of training she pushed her body towards. She jumped up off the couch she was lounging on, ready to jump into action. "Get in touch with the alphas or nearby packs and arrange for a council member to come by. I want this organised for this evening". He shouted at her, sickened that the kidnapping had now spread from one pack to another, and continuing onwards until it had finally reached the Sun Dance Pack.

They were an American Pack, although they were among the more average sized pack (3,000 members), they were one of the strongest. Previous meetings with the council had hinted at the ending of the deaths, that the culprit had been caught. They should have gotten an outright confirmation, rather than just hints and rumours. His second in command simply nodded and left the room to attend to necessary business and make the arrangements. He looked at the rest of his betas, all six of which were his most trusted friends and more importantly they had the trust and honour of their Alpha, Cain, of whom most were good friends with. He smiled sadly, "unfortunately, there is nothing we can do for Cain, as of now, our number one priority is setting a trap for this... thing. We don't know if there is a group, but there is at least one woman. She is extremely dangerous. Everyone will be in groups, evacuation of the children and women is necessary. Dover", Christopher looked at his husband, "you need to organise two members of the warriors to go and check the bar out". Dover nodded and started to write notes as to who was trustworthy enough to send to check the bar out. He continued to take general notes of the meeting, ready to chase up anything and anyone. Christopher paused, he shook his head at his men "I will go with Marion to find out information about Alpha Cain's whereabouts" The men nodded, agreeing with Christopher, his physic powers would come be useful trying to discern whether the barmen were telling the truth or not.

Several hours later

Christopher and Marion, a French man who had been taken in by the Wilderness pack twelve years ago, arrived outside the bar. It was on Ninth Avenue, in main town Whitechurch,.Alabama It was a dive, the outer walls were covered in graffiti and what wall paint was visible was peeling and chipped. The paint that showed on the way was in places visible as a once pale yellow. There was one window on the left hand side; there was a large amount of grime covering its pane it was barely recognisable as a window.

Christopher motioned to Marion "Shall we go in?". Although he was the second in command, he was allowing Marion to lead this questioning as it would free him up to search out the crowd to find any other information, information that might be crucial in the discovery of where Alpha Cain was being held.

Marion nodded, disgust evident on his face "Why did Cain come here?" His voice was filled with confusion, his French accent only barely discernible among his clipped English accent. He had been educated in England and had lived there up until his twelfth birthday, when he had been attacked and mauled by a rogue wolf. He had moved to France with his parents and had lived there until the age of forty-five. They exited the car and crossed the road. As they were opening the door, a bell rang. There were three men in the bar, one of whom was the bartender, from the previous night. "Barkeep," Christopher walked up to the counter where the bar keep was talking with one of his customers. He held out a picture of Cain. "Have you seen this man?" Marion glanced around the place; it was not as bad on the inside as the outside would lead a person to believe. It was more of a broken down stripper place than a rundown bar. There were stripper poles positioned around a centre stage, the floors were relatively clean and there was a smell of disinfectant in the air. Yet there was still evidence for a complete disregard for its general house-keeping, the counters looked like they had not been cleaned in years, there was layers of dirt upon them, with the occasional round imprint, evidence that the same.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't" The bartender replied evasively, cleaning glasses, making a point not to look at either of the gentlemen.

"He was here last night", Marion replies briskly, trying to cut through the usual fluff put forward by the generally evasive bartenders "That man in the picture was here with a woman!"

The bartender, stopped pausing to think. He nodded his head, "Yup, they got into a car, haven't seen 'me since."

"Would you know her if you saw her?" Christopher questioned him angrily, annoyed at the lack of information the bartender was giving them. He rolled his neck, cracking several of his joints, he made his muscles stand out; making him look more intimidating.

"Maybe" The bartender had reverted to evasiveness, refusing to get involved.

Christopher groaned in frustration at the eejits' behaviour. "There's a reward"

Jimmy smiled at them, "Leave a card, if she comes back and I remember her I'll give ye a call"

Marion handed him a card and nodded. He turned to leave and paused. "If she comes back, tell us and don't inform her that she is being looked for". As both men reached Christopher's car, there was a noticeable look of disgust on Marion's face "That place was vile" he shuddered. "Did you pick anything else up, from the men surrounding the bar?" His skin paled underneath his normally tanned skin. Christopher shook his head, "they were too drunk at the time" he looked up at the sky, and stretched his neck, "they were of no use to us!" There was a distinct lack of feeling in his voice, "Useless buggers, c'mon" he clapped Marion on the shoulders as he unlocked his car and opened the door, "We shall head back and see if anyone else has found anything". Marion nodded and opened his door, jumping into the car, the two men headed off into the Dark and dreary evening.

*

Later that night

It was a large open spaced chamber. When you entered the chamber, the first thing that was visible was the large surgical light suspended in the middle of the room. To the left of the entrance were three gurneys, two of which were covered in blood and the remnants of some poor souls, the third gurney held the immobilised body of a large adult male and was directly under the large surgical light. The wall to the right of the entrance held many shelves, each of which had a large label. There was a section at the bottom which held several electrical devices, several of which had wires that snaked across the floor and lay on the ground near the occupied gurney. One held a large probe that was sparking at the thinnest end of it, on the wall opposite the door there were a set of manacles. Beneath the manacles lay a leg and a jar of a luminescent substance that flitted about, trapped in its little cage like a terrified butterfly caught in a spider's web. There was silence, a silence that was broken only by the occasional 'ping' as blood hit the floor, as it slowly dripped off one of the gurneys. Then a moan, one that began on such a low note it was difficult to hear it until it increased in volume

Cain groaned as pain coursed through his body. "Will you just go away" He shouted, gritting his teeth against the never ending onslaught of pain. Silence met his question. He moaned and dropped his head as the giggling resumed. The blindfold on his eyes prevented him from seeing who his attacker was. The pain coursing throughout his body prevented him from focusing long enough to form a coherent answer, and more importantly to contact his pack.

"NO!" The voice bounced off the walls preventing him from figuring out where it was coming from. He heard a soft laugh. 'You know the rules. Tell me what I want to know and I will leave, you will be relatively unharmed'. He cursed under his breath. He stopped and thought, unable to discern if it was a male or a female talking.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." The voice paused; he could hear the grin in its voice. "Is that any way to treat your date? I mean I am catering to your needs aren't I...?' There was an audible sigh as the individual behind the voice became annoyed. 'Come on', it tried to coax the answers out of him, "I have given you everything you want, I have tried to be nice, I asked you nicely to tell me where Lemon is at the beginning. Hmm", there was a pause, as if a thought suddenly came to it, "why don't I let you go, and I will let your mate go as well?"

A scream tore through the silence, it echoed off the walls. "Cain, don't you tell her", Melinda, his mate shouted, "I can take it!" She arched her back and a long drawn out wail of pain was wretched from her ankle, which had been broken when she had been kidnapped, was twisted and burned. The broken bones grinded off each other, further fracturing it. Cain moaned piteously as his mate's pain echoed down the mating bond. He searched blindly in the darkness. His eyes were covered with a mask, preventing him from seeing the creature that had kidnapped him and his mate. Cain's wolf-howled in frustration as it attempted to escape the binds that had ensnared it when he had been caught, The wolves attempts at freedom were thwarted time and time again from the magical bindings that ensnared it., The Wolven aspect of Cain's howled for its mate, While the human side of Cain let out a very loud growl of rage, one filled with promises, promises to enact revenge upon those that had crossed him and harmed his mate.