Young Writers Society

"It's a he, 'n yeah, that's Uri, short for Ursuku."

-<>-

"That's rather unfortunate for you."

Ramona hummed and nodded, tilting her head and glancing at the ceiling in boredom. "I wonder where he is, then," she muttered. "Ain't nothing our guns can't handle though."



Bella forced a laugh and crossed her arms, leaning back into her seat. She looked over at the door. "Itha! Get in here!" she shouted.

There was a second's pause before a woman with a thick, brown bob poked her head in.

"Yeah, Bella?"

"I need to vent and this chick's an a**."

Itha looked over to Tasha blankly and then smirked, coming in and pulling up a chair from the side of the room.

"Okay. Let it all out."



Amy was tired of entertaining questions about werewolves, but the guy was persistently curious. Normally, she would welcome at least, some kind of positive attention for her being a werewolf as opposed to the normal fear or violence, but considering Ari and James were somewhere in the building still trapped, she was mostly annoyed.

She faked a yawn and stretched out her arms in front of her. "I'm... I'm kind of tired actually. Could I go to sleep?" she asked. "It's pretty late."

The guy looked a little disappointed but nodded in understanding.

"Sure," he said, getting up. "You mind sharing a bunk?"

"No," Amy said, shaking her head and getting up to follow him out of the kitchen.

The guy started leading the way, going back out into the hall they'd come from, and in her gut, she hoped they would pass by the room Ari was in. She counted the doors. Closer, closer, closer, one more...

They reached it. They were passing it. Amy slammed her shoulder into the door with a whoosh of forceful movement and shifted into a wolf as the door gave way, leaping into the room. In the second of surprise she had she chomped down and tore at the roped holding Ari's body to the chair, and in a split second, shifted again, fussing with the binds at this ankles, pulling them off. Then she felt an arm come around her neck and yank her back. She shifted again, back to a wolf, and threw Ramona off her back and to the floor, growling.

Tasha tried to sit up so she could stand again, and then gritted her teeth to bite back a cry of pain and fell back.



Ardeshir was up in moments, tackling the already-thrown Ramona and clamping a large hand over her mouth so she couldn't call the alarm.

Amy leapt across the room and grabbed the guy who'd been escorting her by his shirt, and pulled him back into the room. He let out a yelp that was quickly silenced when she threw him to the floor beside Ramona.



Bella turned to face Itha, her face immediately contorting into a frustrated, slightly angry smile.

"I'm just pissed. Like, I don't know whether I should be more angry at myself or more angry at Liam, like - he f***in' lied, to me? The whole effin' time? And I fell for - for an act? Like, I knew he wasn't always just what he showed around everyone else, but I thought he was sad just because every f-in' person out here is damaged and screwed up. Like I don't even know if that f***er actually liked me or if he was just playing along, being Liam. Is that actually how he is? How much of it was a lie? I don't have any f***ing closure."

"Well sh*t, can't you just go talk to him?" Itha asked.

"With Hoss hovering like a fly? Godsd*mn, I'd have to lure him away like a dog, he f***in' hates Liam's guts. The bastard's literally waiting for the second Liam-" she grit her teeth, huffing. "-Tiberius isn't in Rita's sight. Sh*t, in hours he'll be dog food. And like, don't get me wrong, I'm f***in' pissed at him but no one deserves to be handed over to Hoss's vengeful a**."



James was wide awake.

The candles in the room had all been blown out, and the only light in the room was the thin streak of moonlight peeking in through the window. He could hear Rita's soft, raspy snoring carry over from the corner of the room, and the occasional shuffle of Hoss's feet or pants.

He was glad that Rita was in the vicinity, asleep. It was the only thing keeping Hoss from talking to him, and the last thing he needed was that.

Ari punched Ramona in the head to knock her out and gave the same treatment to the man who'd been escorting Amy before righting himself and raising his hand for a high-five before he realized that that'd be difficult in her wolven form.

"That was awesome!" he beamed.



"Well, I barely know the guy but even if he's a f***ing liar, if the dude got into a relationship with you it wasn't all fake 'cause he ain't goin' nowhere near that bull if there isn't something driving him. Something strong, and probably irrational," Tasha adds, propping herself up on her elbows and grimacing.

Amy laughed airily, panting. She jumped up, booping her wet nose on Ari's hand.

"Thanks!" She said, trying to keep her voice low, before she looked out at the open door with worry. "We... we better hurry before people notice. Where do you think they're keeping James?"



Bella's head shot over to Tasha, her lips curling up for a second in a momentary snarl. She looked Tasha up and down with a critical gaze. The redhead's input wasn't exactly welcome but... it was logical, even if it was mixed with an insult.

She harrumphed, turning her head away, letting stray hairs from her ponytail fall in her face. Itha gave Bella a pat on the shoulder.

"I mean... she's not wrong," Itha said. "Most feelings are irrational anyway."

"I ain't got no idea. We can start lookin' round, though - can t'at nose of yers catch a scent?" he asks.



"It's irrational to fall in love with someone you're lying about your identity to, regardless of who they are," Tasha says, once more trying to push herself to a sitting position and failing miserably.

Amy stared at Ari for a second before her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh yeah!" She bonked her head on Ari's leg as opposed to face-palming, since doing so wasn't the same in her wolf form. "Of course! Shoot uh," she paused, sniffing at the air, then at the ground. "He's got-" sniff "-an interesting scent, haha-" sniff "-like always a little sweaty, like a nervous smell."

She bonked her head against the door, forgetting it was shut as she followed her nose.

"Oops, uh." She shifted back to a human, slowly pulling the door open. She poked her head out, following her nose. "I think I got it. I don't think he's on this floor. I think he was dragged upstairs or something," she whispered, shifting to a wolf again and checking the hall. It was empty, for the moment. "Let's go," she said quietly, slipping out and running for the stairs at the end of the hall.



Bella's frown deepened because she knew Tasha's reasoning was sound. It didn't help that she had a low view of Tasha either, and it bit at her pride. She looked over at Itha.

"I really should just talk to him..." she muttered. "Before it's too late."

Ari followed her, bare feet thudding dully on the wooden floor.



"I don't like him and I don't like you but you are still very correct in that," Tasha agrees.

Bella looked over to Tasha, narrowing her eyes at her for a moment before she smacked her lips. "Fine. Itha, you watch her. I'm gonna go wring Hoss's neck," she huffed as she got up, closing the door quietly behind her.



Amy glanced back at Ari to check on him before hurrying up the stairwell. Things seemed to be going fine. It sounded like a lot of people were asleep, but then she stopped abruptly before jumping up to the next floor. She heard footsteps and listened closely. One, two...

"There's three people up there," she said in a hushed whisper. "Two of them sound... big." They had heavy steps. Wait. She heard one more. "Four now. One's going away though."

Tasha slowly pushed herself until she sat up, wincing.



"Four people, including James?" he asked in a low voice.

"Sorry for Bella," Itha said quietly, looking over to Tasha with a cordial countenance. "It hasn't been a great past few days for her."



Amy sniffed.

"No... James... is in one of the rooms I think. End of the hall smells like." She heard a door shut. "Someone just went into it I think. That leaves three in the hall."

"Join the club," she grunted.



"Do we just want to...go in there and knock people out as fast as we can?" he's used to James making plans, or at least having Brett or Rosaleen to sneak. He's the brawn for a reason.

The door opened with the faintest creak. James's heart stopped briefly as Hoss's eyes shot over and Rita shuffled in her bed. He slowly uncurled from his hiding spot in the center of the cage and inched closer to the bars to see who it was, but he almost regretted doing so when he made direct eye contact with Bella just as he did so.

Her sharp stare pierced through him, and he felt like his chest collapsed inside of him as he endured the intensity of her gaze. Bella looked briefly over to Hoss, who stubbornly remained at his post, all the while glancing over at Rita, who was still asleep. The two proceeded to have an argument with their eyes before one long exchanged stare, and eventually, Bella won out. Hoss got up, looking back at Bella with a contemptuous scowl as he quietly slipped out of the room on light feet. James only had a few seconds to figure out what to do with himself, but only managed to lay on his side facing her before she knelt down and sat in front of the cage. She stared down at the ground at first, not meeting his eyes.

She looked angry - and rightfully so. He watched her with a blank expression as a numbness took hold of his emotions. Part of him tried to fight it, but he easily gave in when he saw a tear catch the moonlight on her chin. He waited for her to speak, trying to mentally prepare himself.

"I just have one question," she said softly, her voice a raspy whisper. James could already feel sick to his stomach.

"Did you ever even love me?" she asked.

At that moment, she looked up, meeting his eyes, and it was then that he could no longer meet them. Not without letting himself feel something. He pulled his hands closer to his chest and tucked them just below his lips. He was afraid to answer.

"I think... in some ways, I really do love you," he said as softly as he could manage without his voice breaking. "But not how you deserve to be."



Itha blinked, and stared at Tasha.

"Yeah, getting shot sucks," she said idly.



Amy stared out at the wall for a second in thought, considering their other options. All she could come up with was her going up there and trying to talk to them, but she had no idea what she would say, and didn't know how to distract them in a hallways so Ari could get by. She couldn't come up with anything convincing.

"I guess so?"

She shakes her head but doesn't elaborate, too grouchy to bother.



He cracked his knuckles. "Right then."