*Thanks for the feedback guys, I appreciate it. I look forward to your reviews once again** LS.
*****
"You've got to be kidding me" Kennedy stared blankly at her sister from whose lips the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard had just escaped.
"No Kenny, think about it." Kylie whined in desperation, her golden brown eyes pleading for understanding.
"There is nothing to think about Kylie, jeez! I swear, I need to get you off of all that paranormal bullshit you've been reading recently." Kennedy replied, rolling her eyes. She sat on a close-by loveseat and returned to reading papers for any signs of a Jane Doe. Cassandra had been missing for over six months and they weren't any closer to finding her than they had been when she went missing. The police had stopped looking months ago- apparently, a twenty-one-year-old missing African-American woman's case wasn't going to get them the kind of press they needed, hence, it simply wasn't anywhere near their priority list. She and Kylie had resorted to searching for her themselves; after all, they were her only surviving family. Their mothers were twin sisters and had taught all three girls to always look out for one another, this was as good a time as any to employ that teaching.
Kylie jumped on the loveseat, unwilling to be ignored, "Listen Kenny, there's nothing to disprove these things, for all we know, Cassie may have been kidnapped by a pack of werewolves, she's probably being mated to one of them as we speak."
Kennedy arched a pair of well-defined brows at her sister, "On second thought, maybe we can tap into your new talent, why don't you write a script for the new Twilight movie?"
"Kenny..."
"Stop it Kylie! Okay? Cassie's been missing for over six months and you're giving me this shit story about imaginary werewolves that kidnap people and 'mate' with them? Is this your idea of a brainstorm?"
Kylie's bottom lip quivered as she fought back tears, she hated being screamed at, it upset her- Kennedy was upsetting her. She got off the seat defiantly, "Here I am trying to think up a way to find Cassie while all you do is brood and read those damned useless papers! No one will ever find her Kenny, it's just us and we're fucking running out of options as it is, so, if I was told she was kidnapped by a group of elves and being held hostage in the North Pole, I'd trek there freaking bare-footed and kick Santa's ass if I have to, to get Cassie back. You...you just want to give up, don't you? You just want us to stop searching and get back to our lives, you'll just block it out like Cassie never existed just like you did when mum and aunt Denise died, well I'm not cold and unfeeling like you are, I can't block it out if I needed to, but I'll still look for Cassie till I find her or just disappear like she did." With those words, Kylie marched up to her bedroom, her brown cheeks wet with her tears and her mind made up.
After over ten minutes of thinking, Kennedy found herself standing in front of Kylie's bedroom door, feeling more than a little remorseful, "Ky, I'm sorry." She spoke to the door, there was no reply from the other end, so she continued, just knowing Kylie was listening, "I know how hard this has been for you, and it's...it's hard for me too. How do you think I feel being helpless here? I'm supposed to be the eldest of the three of us, I'm supposed to protect you guys and I failed Cassie. I feel useless Kylie, like I failed aunt Denise and mama and I can't just break down like you Kylie, I'm trying to stay strong for both of us, I..." she sniffed, the wall of toughness she had built since Cassie's disappearance slowly developing cracks, it was hard to keep herself together and not spiral out of control into an emotional wreck. Kylie may have that option, but she had to be the ice princess, she had to be the formidable one and not crack under pressure, "...I admit, we are lost and are running out of options, but I don't want to accept that we've lost Cassie forever, I can't accept that we'll never see her again.
"We will see her again Kenny, we haven't run out of options." Kylie's voice finally came through the door, there was the click of a lock just before Kylie opened it, the tears had dried up considerably, but a fresh set was beginning to form, "I know my idea sounds a bit far-fetched, but it's much better to try and fail than to not try at all and live on 'what ifs'"
Kennedy smiled and nodded her agreement, it was nice to see the shy, introverted 19-year old take a stand on something, she usually just sailed wherever the wind took her, not bothering to put up a fight at any suggestion. Even better, was that she was taking this stand in respect of their cousin, "So, what do you suggest we start with?"
Kylie returned her sister's smile and drew her in for a hug, she was glad Kennedy was doing something she never thought her capable of- letting someone else take the lead, and to think she was the one being given this torch of leadership made her just a little scared but even more determined to not fail Kennedy's trust. They would find Cassie, she would make sure of that.
****
"Sit down Iggy" Caleb spoke calmly.
The eighteen-year-old eased himself into the chair opposite of Caleb with wary eyes. He rarely ever got a call from the Duncan pack which is something he couldn't be more grateful for, the last time had been two years ago so he wondered why they'd need him again. Yes, they did keep in touch and he knew of a couple of their cubs who had attended his high school and still dropped by his house for friendly 'visits', but he didn't think he would be walking into their compound this early. They were a friendly bunch and they paid good money for his services, but he still feared them especially since he had first seen Caleb morph into his wolf- he was terrified of them and would give anything to be off their land in record time.
"I'm sure you must be wondering why we contacted you." Caleb began, he wanted to smile to at least minimize the nervousness oozing from the kid, but he was in no mood for smiles. He had gone to visit Cassandra again this morning and she had been as distant as she was a day before, and two days before that, apparently, his touching her had worsened matters. She wouldn't even let him four feet close, he had to sit at the other end of the room for her to talk, and when he said 'talk' he meant monotonous answers. She wouldn't speak about her family, sometimes he thought to read her mind, but he'd remember they had to be mated for him to get access to her thoughts and it made him angrier.
She had been with them for a week and he was no closer to making her comfortable, even less mating with her. It occurred to him that he would need something extra to get her to open up, hence, he thought of having one of her relatives over, but she would not mention a name when he asked, perhaps fearing he would harm them, so he had gotten Roy to call Iggy.
Roy had found Iggy four years ago, the kid was a computer whiz and Roy had suggested he could be of help in future. Of course, Caleb hadn't thought there was anything they could use the boy for, he was just fourteen, what the hell did he know that an over two-hundred-year-old werewolf couldn't figure out himself? Roy was proved right some months later when Iggy successfully traced the origin of a supposed virus that had wiped off Caleb's document from his PC, it turned out it wasn't a virus, rather his system had been hacked into. The pack member who had been working for Nolan Creek; Caleb's rival and one of the strongest Alpha's in the south, was subsequently killed and his carcass sent to Nolan.
Since then, the boy had assisted them in seven other computer-related problems. It was only two years ago that he had discovered their true nature, he was pleasantly surprised that the kid had agreed to come over despite how awful their last meeting had gone.
Iggy shrugged his skinny shoulders, "Something about your...wife's relatives?" he asked, choosing his words carefully, he had done enough research on werewolves after what he had witnessed to know the partners of werewolves weren't referred to as 'wives', but Roy had used that term to speak of the female, so he would go along with it.
