The Animal

"Hey, wait!" Rome cried as Lenna pushed him out of the bathroom. "Don't you wanna hear what happened to us?"

The slammed door in his face said "No," but the story was too exciting not to tell, so he raised his voice to be heard through the door.

"We were attacked by the Skin Walker!" Rome said gleefully, like he was a child who had rode on an especially exciting, dangerous roller-coaster. "Twice!" he beamed. Rome heard all movement stop in the bathroom, and the suddenly the door was cracked and Elenna stood there wearing a towel, looking incredulous. Probably she was surprised at how awesome and brave he was.

"Yeah!" he continued before she could say anything. "And then the cops showed up and we escaped into the sewers. It was like, I dunno, a Black Dog or something the first time, and then bigger the next, like maybe a werewolf or something. Weird, huh? And then--"

"And then do you really think everyone in the hotel needs to know what happened?"

"Oh. Sorry, Raws," Rome said, realizing that Rawson had come up behind him, and, admittedly, his voice had been pretty loud. Ah, well, it sounded more like he was talking about a TV show than anything, right? And people were notoriously bad at believing the truth when it was ridiculous. "Anyway, what're you standing around here in a towel for, huh, Lennie? We got a bar to go to! Get a move on!"

Rome ducked the hairbrush flying at his face.

Elenna actually smile when she went under the shower, in 3 minutes Rome will bang at the door and tell her that she is a girl and is taking hours to get ready. But first the important thing yucky corpse powder needs to get off, even though when she didn't even touch it. She felt as if she was covered by it.

I guess Rome is right; I am often helping the bad guys to knock myself out. But that is not exactly my fault. They are the ones that act horrible overprotective and already keep me away from anything that might be a weapon, well Rome more than Raws but Raws does it too when Rome forces him to do it. I wasn't so much injured in the six month when I was alone, well okay I used much more my powers and I um knew I have no one who protects me. And I told them month ago that I am not trained to use and handle all kinds of weapons. But Raws is way to impatient to teach me anything and Rome, well he is mostly to busy with the girls in town. And they don't like when I use my powers for my protection. So no idea what I'm supposed to do.

10 minutes later and of course an impatient Rome, Elenna got rid of the skirt, blazer and the hated high heels -which weren't really high- and was in her normal outfit purple Converse, jeans and a white shirt.

"Are you ready ladies, or what? Move your sexy buns. Rome you wanna meet your Barbie and maybe I'm for once lucky and the hot guy from the lab shows up in the bar. Well and for you Raws, I don't know you are the mysterious grumpy guy sitting at the bar." laughed Elenna while she left the hotel room.

Romulus was in his element. The bar.

It was known under many names. The pub. The saloon. The sleazy dive somewhere. The gentleman's club. He knew them all.

And he owned them.

This place was called "Eddie's." A quaint name. One that signaled you were at home, where you came to relax, where you could let your hair down, have a few words and beers with a few friends,grab a burger, play some pool, and go home with a friendly face that still looked pretty good the next morning. It was safety. It was comfort.

It was still early: the patrons of this establishment were few. A couple of Mexicans having a round of cerveza after work; a young Indian couple having dinner. Some singles: one tall, blonde, burly, predatory guy that Rome made a note to keep an eye on in case he tried anything; a huge trench-coat-wearing mafioso in a corner with a bottle--a bottle?--of vodka, looking as if he was savoring the taste like one would savor fine scotch--vodka had a taste?--but not appearing an imminent threat; a pair of giggling dark-haired girls were having some shots at the bar, getting the attention of the big blonde guy; another brunette--starkly Caucasian, and hanging in the shadows so he couldn't see her face--was absorbed in her pint; and finally, Elenna's "Barbie."

She sat at the bar, accessorized with enough pink to blind a man at ten paces: blonde, petit, curvey, athletic. Some neon-colored cocktail he was later to learn was a prickly-pear margarita sat in front of her, and she was intently flicking through her phone with perfectly-manicured nails. She had spread out at the bar, her enormous Gucci purse occupying the stool next to her, expensive sunglasses, newspaper, and hulking, sparkly wallet spread out before her.

Rome signaled to his companions where this was headed, though it was probably painfully obvious, as Rome sidled up to the bar on the other side of her purse and ordered "what she's having."

The girl looked up at that, revealing bright green eyes that, before he even opened his mouth, were unimpressed. Her gaze softened a bit as she caught his dashing good looks, or at least his winning smile. "What is this thing, anyway?" he asked when he had been given his drink. "For those who need a little radioactivity in their life?" he quipped at the color of the beverage, taking a tentative sip when the barkeep brought him his.

"I already paid for my drink..." she began, not even cracking a smile. Wow, tough crowd, Rome thought.

"Oh, great, you can get mine, too," he said, then grinned and winked before she had a moment to get indignant. Realizing she'd been tricked, though, got a small smile out of her at least. "Adam's the name," he said, nonchalantly, sitting down now. "I'm sure you get this all the time, but, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" Somehow, it sounded genuine when he said it. Maybe because it was. It was a gift.

((Barely over six feet tall is huge now? ))

Danila listened and watched as more people entered the bar. He'd overheard good bits of the blond's conversation with the dark haired woman. He'd almost talked to one of them, but the pair split to quickly to be a part of the group he was meeting with.

This new crop of suspiciously-well-groomed Anglos, however. . . they might just be his group. The trio looked conspicuously like they didn't quite fit in, at least to his trained eye. He decided to keep an eye on the situation unfolding - one of the new men was flirting unabashedly with the blond, his friends were obviously mildly annoyed but seemed to be used to it - and jump in only when necessary.

Okay, after spending approximately one hour in the bar, trying to get out information of people - including this weird white bearded dude who reminded me of good old Santa in a faded cotton shirt, who asked me if I had a boyfriend- I seriously wanted to call it a quit for tonight, but now things have changed...

This undeniably handsome guy really was something worth looking it. He came off pretty confident and she had no doubt that he knew that he was irresistibly attractive. When she met guys like him she was always cautious, because many turned out to be absolute jerks.

Don't show any interest, Georgie, she reminded herself. He could be just like that Mike dude in the hotel bar. But that smile...

"I'm sure you get this all the time, but, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?", Rome asked.

Don't get weak, Georgie! Remember, you can't trust anyone!

She played with her hair a little, smiling mysteriously. There was no reason to be rude to him, but on the other hand she didn't want to reveal too much about herself.
"I'm here for a visit", she said, trying to sound relaxed.

"A visit?" He repeated. "Family? Friends? Boyfriend, maybe?"

Aha, I now where that is heading!
Although she would usually brush-off any other guy right that second, she felt comfortable in his presence. He was definitely a ladies' man, no doubt about that, but in a way that made him appear charming, not importunate.

"I'm seeing a couple of friends", she replied, intentionally not answering that 'boyfriend part'. She could tell from his look that he really wanted to know, and she couldn't resist cracking a smile.
Rome took a sip of his bright pink prickly-pear margarita and pulled a face. "Jeez, what the hell is that? You seriously want to tell me that you like that suff?"

Georgina laughed. "It's pink. What else matters?" Suddenly she realized that she opened up a little too much to that stranger, so she quicky scrutinized her manicured nails in order to pretend that she was not falling for his charm.

"Your car is one hell of a beauty."

She looked up, distrustfully. "You know the car I'm driving? Are you a stalker?"

Rome shrugged his shoulder. "I think it's pretty easy to tell. Your car sticks out of the crowd, just like its owner does." A grin appeared on his face.

He's not bad, I have to admit. He knows how to impress...

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

Ursula? Gertrude? Mildred? No way I'm going to say one of these absurd names!

"Georgie."
Why on earth did I tell him that?

"Georgie, hm? Pretty name."

"It's Georgina, actually."
Shut up! You don't know who is really is...

Georgina flinched when her cell phone vibrated in her hand. The name of her uncle appeared on the screen.
Not now, Uncle Lewis! Don't you see that I'm in the middle of something!

She sighed, then looked up to Rome. "Sorry", she said. "I really have to get that." She got up and left the bar.
It better be something important, Uncle!

Oh yeah I remember why I am glad he never wants me. I would just start laughing when he acts like a cock. Thought Lenna smiling.

"Hey Raws let's sit over there, then I can tell you what I found out and I can hear how your day was without the excitement of Rome who loves his job way too much."

Which means you tell me the story in 10 nouns and I have to form them into sentences.

Elenna went to the bartender and ordered two beers before she turned to Raws who was standing behind her.

"Here for you." Said Lenna friendly smiling at him.

"I wonder if the weird guy who called me is already here, his name sounded like Vanilla. He said Tex send him, to help us." Mumbled Lenna that only Raws could hear it. She suddelny looked at him with concern. "That means don't bite when a strangers talks to us, be nice. Please. At least until we know if it is the guy or not. Weird that I see the Barbie again, I first saw her in the library. I think I don't like her, she looks to plastic."

Raws and Lenna sat down at a table not too far from Rome, who stayed with Barbie at the bar. Just loud enough that Raws could hear her she told him everything what happened since they split up in the morning. She told him even from Jared, just to see how he reacts.

"So what are we doing next after Casanova is done with Barbie?"

Allison finished with her sandwich and passed the plate on to the waitress. Then her eyes wandered over to the bar and froze.

You have got to be kidding me...

Sitting at the bar chatting up the Barbie was none other than Romulus Remington. She decided to throw caution to the wind. Allison took off her jacket, shoving the pistol in her purse, then she took off her outer shirt to leave the black tank top.

"Another Blue Moon, thank you."

As the woman in pink moved off she flashed him a coy smile.

That's it, Remington...I'm a willing mark.

Romulus Remington knew when he was being baited. He was the Great White Hunter, after all, and a player knows when he's being played. The brunette in the corner suddenly appearing as if out of nowhere, suddenly stunning, suddenly predatory, suddenly smiling directly at him after Georgie had gone outside to take a call was definitely a sign that he was being baited. Like a big dumb trout with a juicy earthworm on a hook, baited. He could see written in her smoldering brown eyes her wicked plans to kidnap him, take him home and do naughty things to him.

And, oh, how he loved it.

But even Rome wasn't quite first-class-douchey enough to ignore the previous girl once she had been out of the room for three seconds in favor of this--admittedly equally hot--newcomer. Georgie might come back, after all. Hopefully would. And Georgie had the prior claim to his attentions. Despite appearances Rome did actually tend to care about people's feelings, and while night-to-night partner changing wasn't unheard of when the parties concerned were consenting adults with no presumptions to commitment, minute-to-minute was a bit much, even for him. So Rome settled for a noncommittal smile that hinted an I'll see you later, flagged the bartender down to buy her her latest beer for her, and turned back to the room, elbows on the bar.

The mafioso with the vodka was giving he and his companions a once-over. Rome put the obvious two (vodka) and two (Russian contact) together and made a guess--an admittedly stereotypical, borderline-racist guess, but a good one. He wandered nonthreateningly over to where the man sat--how could he appear even remotely threatening with this neon pink thing in his hand?--and asked, "You Danila Dragunov?" He glanced at where Raws and Elenna had found a table of their own and beckoned them over. "Mind if we join you? Heard Tex Mosely sent you."

Typical Rome, he makes weirdo friends and we have to meet them too. Oh no wait he might be the Russian guy who called me. Rome do you really think just because the guy drinks vodka he is Russian? That is kind of mean.

"I guess Rome wants us to meet his new friend. It could be the guy that called me. Give me a hand with all the paper stuff, please Raws."

They pick up all the files from the hospital and the newspapers to join Rome and Danila. Lenna tried to look harmless and without attracting attention but while she did this she dropped The Gallup Independent without noticeing it.

Well at least it is not Barbie Rome wants us to meet.

Raws and Lenna sat down at the table when she looked at Rome.

"I guess you have introduced us already, Rome? Hey I'm Elenna Fee and you are ... Danila, right?"

"What is it, Uncle?", Georgina asked impatiently.

"Nice to hear from you", Lewis replied sarcastically. "After what- a week?"

"I was busy."

"Too busy to call that you're all right? You know that your aunt and I worry about you when you don't call, Georgina."

Georgina sighed. "I'm sorry, there's just a lot of stuff going on right now..."

"I know."

"Know what?"

"I heard about the incidents in Gallup."

There was a short silence. "How do you know that I'm in New Mexico? Lewis, did you hire one of your former hunter friends to watch me?" Georgina bit on her lower lip. She hated it when her uncle treated her like a kid.

"Not directly..."

"Not directly?", she repeated coldly. "Listen, I know that you and aunt Marie are concerned that the only remaining member of the Gilmore family is running around hunting demons and all kind of evil crap, but I told you a thousand times that I'm old enough to take care of myself. After all, you were the one who taught me everything, including shooting. So there's seriously no reason to worry, got it?"

"Georgina, you have to listen for one second..."

"I don't have time right now, Lewis", she interrupted.

"Georgina Gilmore, will you just hold on for one second?"

Well, there goes his good old lawyer ego... Georgina sighed. "Okay, what is it?"

"I appreciate your attitude, young lady", Lewis said cynically. "I don't know what evil power is behind these 'animal attacks', but it could be anything and I really want you to look out for yourself. Don't talk to strangers, especially to those who appear to be particularly nice to you..."

She had to think of that attractive guy at the bar immediately. Her uncle was right. It could be a trap. She should avoid poeple like him, even if they had the hottest smile ever....damn it!

"Wait a sec! Didn't you want to stay out of the entire hunting business?", she asked sceptically.

"I am staying out of this."

"Oh, really? So how do you explain this 'watch out for evil, honey' phone call? And what about you sending out people watching your niece? Now, how are you going to defend yourself, Mr. Lawyer?"

"Oh, Georgina, I taught you the best ways to fight evil, not to fight your dear, old uncle."

Georgina cracked a smile.

"I assure you that I'm staying out of this. I just wanted to..."

"Warn me, I know." She looked at her Rolex that her aunt got her for her 18th birthday. "Listen, I gotta go..."

"Okay, but don't forget to call next time. And don't talk to starngers!"

He sounds like Little Red Riding Hood's mother who tells her daughter not to talk to anyone. Jesus, I'm not five!

"Bye uncle, love you!" After she hung up, she took a deep breath and opened the door of the bar. Although she hated the fact that her uncle's warning was running through her head, she inwardly knew that he was right. She shouldn't get close with people she didn't know.
What a pity! That guy at the bar was just too handsome... Now I have to make sure that I don't seem interested.

Before Georgina had the chance to spot Rome, someone else got her attention.
That girl from the library! What is she doing here?

The petite brunette she saw in the library earlier just got up. Next to her stood a guy who looked rather stern, but not unattractive. They walked towards the table where the weird guy with the long coat and the bottle of vodka was sitting.

It can't be a coincidence that I see that girl again. Something strange is going on right now...

The brunette had dropped something and didn't notice it. Georgina walked straight to the table they just sat and picked up the paper on the floor. She forrowed her brows as she realized that the girl had done some obvious studies on the 'animal attacks'. She looked at the newspaper articles that the girl had dropped. She had underlined many passages and written a couple of notes in the margins.

I guess that brunette didn't come to the library to look for a cheesy romance novel...

"Uh, actually, no, I hadn't introduced everyone yet," Rome chuckled, wondering if the Russian guy had caught that Elenna had called him 'Rome,' and debated with himself for a moment about confirming his real name, but decided against it since he'd already introduced himself as 'Adam,' and because people rarely caught his name on the first go because of how unusual it was. He'd do better to stick with the alias, and, if this guy turned out to be legit, correct himself later and explain. "I'm Adam," he said, a bit pointedly, for Elenna, "this is my partner, James. We're here investigating this...ah, shapeshifter problem, same as you."

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed suddenly that Elenna had dropped some of her research on the floor without noticing, but before he could make a move to retrieve it, Georgie had returned to the bar and picked it up off the floor. She followed it to their table, to Elenna, and she and Rome caught each other's eyes briefly and looked away quickly. There was something about the way she scrutinized the article that had Rome wondering, and the way she didn't give him a second glance, unlike just a moment ago, was highly suspect. He'd have to keep an eye on how she kept an eye on the group. She could be another hunter, maybe, with how she reacted to the information, in which case the more the merrier, but then...then again, she could just as easily be the Skin Walker. Just my luck, Rome figured, if she tried to eat me, and not in the good way...

Danila looked up, downing the last of his vodka and standing as the growing crowd surrounded his table.

"Ah, yez, I am Danila. Very nize to meet you all. Vould you like to take zeats? I believe we have... things to discuss?"

Danila eyed the blond suspiciously. She didn't quite seem to be part of the group. . . like perhaps she was doing her own little investigation. And this Adam fellow who also went by Rome. . . one of them was probably a nickname or an alias.

But no matter. He didn't trust them yet, they didn't trust him yet. That was just how it worked when people in their line of business met.

Danila seated himself, refilling his cup and beckoning the barmaid to bring a few more cups. May as well be hospitable.

As the others sat down, he sipped his vodka again. "Now. . . I truzt you are all a group, yez?"

That is not fair, why am I again the who has to say my real name. One day I will get in trouble for that. Did Rome find a new victim for is massively huge macho ego? Oh no still the Barbie.

Elenna shook her head slightly before she answered Danila his question.

"Yes we are all a group." Gosh I would love to imitate is accent, but i guess that wouldn't be as much fun for him. "Why did Tex told you to join us? We can handle this job like all the other jobs before on our own. I mean don't get me wrong, I don't wanna say your help is not welcome. I am just wondering, that is all."

Elenna suddenly remembered all her research in her hand.

Note to myself: I don't like talking to strangers. This isn't my job in the team. Rome talks, Raws stares mean at the other people well and me, and I do the research and I don't know get myself into trouble from which the boys have to safe me. And now I am talking. Damn it I have no idea what to say, how much can I say. I mean I even forgot about the aliases.

"Back to business, I don't think we have time for small talk. How much do you know about what is going on here?"

How do we know this Danila is the real Danila and not the shapeshifter shouldn't we check this?

Elenna showed Rome under the table her phone, what said.

Should check if he is the shifter?! How?

"Quite frankly, mis Vee," Danila said with a shrug, "I have no clue vy Tex sent me to you. I am new to hunting, she was my contact, she told me to come here."

"Of course, Mr. Dragunov," Rome replied smoothly, in his element. He glanced at the message on Elenna's phone and nodded shortly. "You say you're new to this hunting thing? Well, first thing you'll learn is not to trust anyone, of course. Including me," he flashed a disarming smile and reached down into his jeans pocket, which had the Russian flinching. Rome laughed. "See! That's good, that's exactly what I want from you. Now here."

Rome clattered a few items onto the wooden table. His mother's silver rosary, and a flask.

"Vat is zat?" Danila asked.

"That is everyone's insurance. Now, this is silver," he held up the rosary, "universally detrimental to shapeshifters of all kinds." He held up the flask. "This flask: before we get too excited, holy water. Now we'll go around the table, just, you know, hold the silver--" he poured the holy water into one of the shot glasses "--and take a swig of this. You know what? Let's throw some salt in for good measure," he unscrewed the lid on the shaker and dumped a generous helping into the shot glass, "which deters basically everything. We pass these bad boys around, and once we're sure we're all 100% bona-fide human, we get a round of Kumbaya going and it's like we've known each other all our lives, yeah?"

Rome paused to see how the crowd was taking this. He felt more than saw Georgie, back at the bar, observing this exchange closely--and if his speech wasn't an obvious enough neon sign that said 'Hunter Table Over Here,' he didn't know what was--and presumed she'd either think they were part of some cult and move on, or approach them. Danila was stone-faced, but then, that came with the territory with Russians, right? Okay, Rome, stop it before you say something like that out loud...not everything's like in the movies.

"I'll go first," he offered, taking a solid swig of the nasty salty stale holy water and clutching the rosary firmly in his fist. "You'll notice the lack of burning and sizzling, even though--" he gagged as the salt hit the back of his throat harshly, "gah! Even though that stuff's friggen nasty." A few more coughs and he was over the worst. Elenna was laughing openly at him; Raws was shaking his head in the way that meant he was amused but trying not to show it.

"Anyway," he said once his throat had cleared, putting on his best let's-be-friends-smile. "Who wants to be next?" he added, swapping it out for the sarcastic gee-that-was-fun-smile.

Hahaha Rome is kind of hot when he is the one who knows more then someone else. But something in this bar is weird, I feel as we are standing on a stage and everyone watches us. But I guess I imagening things, the only one who is watch could be Barbie because Rome lost his interesst in her.

"I'll go next."

Elenna took the rosary in one hand and the salty holy water filled shot glass in the other which emptied it at once.

"Ew that is just disgusting." While she made a face as if she wasn't sure to laugh or cry. But as expected no supernatural reaction. Which meant Elenna was a human through and through. She drank half her bottle of the left beer to wash the salt in her mouth away and looked up to see who goes next.

That is a little as we are on a slumber party and we play Truth or Dare. But if we did would have Raws said already we are childish and would leave the room to go in a gym.

"That would be me!" Georgina said, grabbed one of the glasses that contained the holy water mixture and drank it without even pulling a face. "Refreshing." She smiled, put the glass back on the table and turned her head towards the brunette girl who was staring at her suspiciously. Although she now had the proof that Rome was not demonic and she had no reason to avoid him anymore, she initially ignored him because she liked to play a little. The other two guys, the mafioso-looking one and the quiet one next to the girl, did seem a little surprised with her just interrupting and drinking the holy water as if it was a cocktail.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude", Georgina said, inexpressively. "But I think these are yours." She hold up the articles that the girl had dropped.

"Where did you get them?" The brunette seemed both distrustful and annoyed at the same time.

"Where you've dropped them. On the floor." With a confident smile Georgina grabbed a chair and pulled it right next to Rome, still ignoring him. "You've done good research, I have to admit. You just have to watch your stuff more carefully, especially while doing your job." She could feel the intensive glances of each one of them piercing through her.

"Who the hell are you?" The girl asked coldly.

"Well, I guess I'm not a demon after all, since that great drink that you mixed together didn't do me any harm. Just a little too salty, I have to say", Georgina responded, still with a mysterious smile on her face. The girl didn't show any emotion.

"Why are you here?"

"To give you this back, first of all." Georgina threw the girl's documents across the table, right in front of her. "And secondly, I really want to know what Mr. Russia here has to say." She briefly glanced at the guy in the coat, who was observing her intensively.

"What are you? A spy?" The brunette asked.

Jeez, that girl should seriously get some antidepressant pills, she seems like a really angry kid...

"I'm a hunter, just like you, and I'm looking for the same thing", Georgina replied while scutinizing her finger nails.

"You kidding me!" That was Rome's voice, and for the first time she looked at him again, smiling quickly, than turned her head back to the girl.
"Seriously, don't mind me guys." She glanced shortly at the Russian guy. "Just carry on with your conversation."

Who the hell does she think she is? Jesus himself here to rescue us? No way this, this plastic Barbie is a hunter. Her pretty skirt could get dirty. Rome say something and stop thinking about your future with her, she can't be real.

"You really think I trust you just because you had one of our drinks? You didn't even answer my question. Who the hell are you?"

Let the catfight begin. Elenna was always the girl in the team, more or less girlie, but still the girl and now came this girl and just took her place. Elenna wouldn't hand it over with a smile. And when she had to shoot this other girl, what she seriously considered, she would do it . The boys were her friends and she was the little girl in the team and she wouldn't give the rang so easily away.

I bet you never met a girl that truely didn't like you, but hey there is always a first time. Because I really don't like you when you just jump on us and invite yourself.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rome exclaimed, equal parts pleased and surprised. Beauty and brains--who knew such a deadly combination could exist in anyone but himself?

"Uh, guys," he began, when things between the two girls began to get a bit heated (if they were going to have a serious chick fight, couldn't they have the decency to take their clothes off and find a mud pit?). "Uh, this is Ms. Georgina, uh, I don't believe I caught your last name?"

"Gilmore," the girl supplied helpfully, with a taunting smile.

"--Gilmore," he repeated. "And since we're all pretty sure she's not a demon or anything, and clearly knows her stuff, why don't we pull up a chair and--" Rome reached behind him to grab a stool to shove to the table next to him (on his other side, opposite Elenna, because there was clearly some friction going on there) "--and have her join us?" He smiled warmly, inviting that hot ass to sit right down on--

Okay, steady, Remington, he told himself. You don't mix business and pleasure, that's just poor form.

At least not on the first date.

"Anyway," Rome lowered his voice, "basic story is we've tracked a shapeshifter--a very specific kind called a Skin Walker--and apparently one with a huge territory--to somewhere around here, the canyon area, I think. Weird thing about it is it behaves under a weirdly different MO: instead of using the skins of people and normal animals, this guy's somehow managed to use supernatural creatures' skins as Halloween costumes, right? And it's killed loads of people already--either outright, and taken their skins, or else he's poisoned them somehow."

He straightened up. Behind Georgie's head he could see the inviting brunette smirking at him knowingly. He tried to ignore her, but damned if he didn't have a soft spot for mystery. "And that's about all I know. It's vulnerable to silver bullets, but I don't know if that would kill it. Elenna? You talked to that guy outside the library the longest. What did he have to say? And tell us what you found out at the hospital. As for the rest of you, who's next for the holy water shot and vodka chaser?" he grinned.

Allison sat back and watched, without looking like she was watching. Remington had friends, several of them and they appeared to be drinking salted vodka and passing around a rosary—some kind of secret society? She flashed him another smile as he looked her way—just so he knew she was thankful for the drink.


Time to call for back up, Aly...


She went back to her beer and her quiet observations, never taking both eyes off him at once. If he noticed he would think her interested in him only, not his companions. Allison was in no hurry. She had chased him all over the United States—she could wait for his meeting to be over.


No way I'm letting him gat all the credit for this take down. No, I have to get him alone. Then I arrest him in private and his little cult friends will be none the wiser.

Yes, it was a brilliant plan--get into bed with possibly the most sick human being on the planet. Great detective work, Wesson.

I so hope you know that I hate you right now Rome. Inviting this, this plastic, pink Barbie to join us? Gosh.

"Okay, I take some vodka before all the attention is on me. The students got visited in the mountains by an big Indian guy he told them a ghost story about a skin walker, after that they got attacked. Mandy said it sounded like a wild animal. Three of the students died in the mountains, three got away. They all have smallpox, just normal fever, muscle pain, weakness, nausea and vomiting the whole program. Two died, Mandy is still alive. The dead bodies, the three that died in the mountains had missing organs like the liver and well the other stuff that was left was mush so not sure what was left, the heart was there. They were all skinned. The two that died in the hospital well look healthier but they well all covered in corpse powder. The library was a dead end street; none of the books are helping there. But I met this guy outside the library, by the way he was 100% creepy weird, but he had some interesting information’s. Corpse powder is really evil black magic made by a witch. The only way to stop the effect is by a witch of the same or greater power of the creature that made and uses the powder. But witches aren't fun either as we know or there is no witch strong enough to kill the skin walker." Elenna glazed at Raws.

I am NOT a witch Raws, no matter what you think!

"And Silver will cause the Witch pain. But it will not kill it. We need a bullet or arrow dipped in white ash. And we have to aim for the head, not the heart. We can rob it of some of its power by tricking it into speaking when in animal form - it will lose the ability to shape shift. Which made it easier to to combat. The Skin Walker will retain the Witch's shadow, when in the body of another human. And do not try to catch it if it flees the field of battle. While it cannot outrun a bullet, a Skin Walker will outrun the wind. We will never catch up. So that is all I know. I still have no idea how we find the walker. So what do we do now? Any suggestions Barbie?"

Danila watched and listened carefully, nodding as the conversation carried on. This whole situation was fixed to blow out of proportions with the girls, which would admittedly be entertaining. What he actually found mildly worrying, however, was something that apparently nobody else had noticed - "Adam" had met two girls here, not just one. And the other one, hiding in a corner nearly out of view, seemed to be a bit... distracted.

Oh, well. They could deal with that later. Danila filled his glass halfway with holy water, sprinkled in some salt, topped it off with vodka, and downed the whole thing. He actually pierced his skin with the rosary to finish of his display.

"Now, zees 'Skeen Walker,'" he said, interrupting the fast-paced conversation between the others, "Do vee have any clue vere eet ees, or are vee just vaiting for eet to attack another target?"

Georgina was used to girls not trusting her. She knew so many women who avoided her because they feared she could steal away their boyfriends. She might looked like that kind of girl, but she wasn't. In her high school, as the captain of the cheerleader team, she had many admirerers but only a few close friends, and not one of them knew that she hid guns under her bed and in the closet behind her designer clothes through all of these years.
She's pretty, Georgina thought while observing the girl across the table. A little more make up would look great on her. And a serious change of her wardrobe! She knew why the brunette was acting so hostile. She showed that kind of behavior one expects from a dog who tries to protect its territory. In her case, the two boys seemed to be her territory. And she, Georgie, just happened to burst right into her playground. Of course that brunette chick was pissed at her, she didn't expect her to act any differently.

Georgina pulled off a smile. "Thank you for initiating us into your knowledge. I really appreciate that- what was your name again?"

The girl pinched her lips. "Granger", she replied coldly. "Hermione."
Rome laughed, but she wasn't even batting an eyelid.

"Vait- vasn't your name Elenna?", the Russian guy asked.

Elenna rolled her eyes and mumbled something that nobody understood.

"Okay, thank you, Elenna, for explaining the situation so thoroughly", Georgina responded with as sugar-sweet voice. "I don't know what plans you guys have, if you want to track that damn thing down and kill it- that's up to you. All I know is that I have a trunk full of weapons, and there is only one thing I enjoy more than shopping- well, and manicure- and that's actually using my little Mossberg's and Winchester's..."
Georgina exchanged a quick glance with Rome, then turned her face towards Elenna. "I'm happy to help, Miss Hermione Granger."

Danila chuckled slightly, smirking. Just announcing the presence of weapons like that? That was a bit uncouth.

It could also be dangerous. Why, imagine if local law enforcement or some redneck heard her. . .

Danila chuckled again, then spoke up.

"Ah, if you women are done fighting. . . perhapz we could discuzz aczhual strategy?"

Rome became serious as things turned from cordially inconvenient to downright nasty. "I think Danila is right," he said sternly.

He took the rosary from the table and placed it safely back in his pocket without making it appear how valuable the thing really was to him, and while his hand was below the table he took Elenna's hand in his and squeezed it warningly, as much to tell her don't-worry as please-don't-make-a-scene. As for Georgie, well, it was clear he could simply charm the socks off of her any time he wished to get her to fall in line, though she seemed to be ignoring him now. He eyed them both now until they backed off, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

"So. I think our Navajo friend said something about a very special way you have to kill these things. A bullet coated in white ash, that was it, wasn't it, Lennie? In the head, right? That shouldn't be too hard for our marksman," he clapped Rawson on the back, "and you look like a man who's handy with a gun yourself," he nodded at Danila. "As for strategy....unfortunately it's a really active Skin Walker, as I understand it, so I guess we just wait until it strikes again and--" Rome looked around at the frowns that met him. "Okay, no. Bad idea? Anyone else got a clue?"

A few people began to talk at once, quietly suggesting options. Rome hooked his legs around the rungs of the chair leaned back dangerously far--Mom used to hate that--until he was out of the gaggle of conversation. His stomach twinged awkwardly and he surveyed the place looking for the men's room.

Conveniently, it was near where the brunette sat.

He glanced back at his companions. Everyone seemed to be getting along tolerably, for now. His job was done. They could survive without him for a few hours.

He glanced back at the brunette in the corner. And made his decision. He stood up, leaned down to Rawson's ear: "I'm gonna go to the can, man, be right back."

Rawson glanced up at him, but also glanced where his eyes were glued, chuckled briefly in his chest, and nodded. Brother-speak for I'll see you in the morning, man. It was nice, though at the same time kind of depressing, to be known so well. He grinned his thanks to his twin, clapped Elenna on the back, and made his way to the restroom. There he relieved his queasy belly--damn those tacos at lunch, never again!--washed his hands, rinsed his mouth, ensured he had a love glove in his wallet, debated leaving the gun and ID badge with Raws, but decided against it, and re-entered the bar.

She was waiting for him.

He sidled up to the bar next to her. "I couldn't help noticing you from across the room," he said, keeping his voice low and smooth. "You got a name to go with those smolderingly dark eyes, or do you like being so mysterious?"