Pt. 4

Her hands were trembling as she looked at the results on the test.  The two lines confirmed what the other tests said.  Two lines. 

Two lines.

Two lines.

"What is this..? "

She whipped around to find her brother standing behind her,  staring at the other tests on the sink.  She hadn't seen him come in. 

He looked at the test,  and back at her,  wide-eyed.  When she did not answer,  instead of looking away,  hot tears pricked her eyes,  the teenager scrambled to read the instructions on the packaging. 

There was no mistaking it.  His sister was pregnant.  Anyone else would be overjoyed but her... It was a death sentence.  Thinking quickly,  he ran down to the kitchen in his house,  and brought a garbage bag. He swept the tests into the bag,  took it to his room, and stuffed it under his mattress.  He ran up to his sister,  and bade her to stay inside,  and not step out of the room. 

"If anyone asks,  you're sick.  Down with measles. You aren't stepping out of the house."

Measles was good. An infectious disease nobody wanted.  He shut the door to her room,  and slid down the wall to squat in the corridor.  Even at this early stage, he,  a young wolf,  could smell the difference in her scent. It was only a matter of time before others knew. He hoped and prayed his father wouldn't come upstairs,  and he'd meet his elder sister first. 

Sakura was the one with the most sensible solution, always. 

----------------

Eric Tan shut the door to his apartment,  and crashed onto his leather couch.  His mind was spinning with the story and scenario that Madeline King had painted.  He admired the pluck of this teenager to hunt someone down,  and do her best to save someone when the means to help was beyond her individual reach.  The story of the girl she wanted to help also struck him.  Nobody should have to live through such abuse.  What remained to be seen was whether the girl would adapt outside. 

It was one thing to pull off a rescue,  or an extraction,  as she said.  It was another thing to see through the transition of the rescued ones into normal society.  PTSD,  trauma, and poor social adjustment  were but the beginning of the challenges they faced.

When people approached him, a loner,  they came with standard requests.  Assassinate someone.  Steal something.  Blackmail.

And were shown the door. 

Some people had no imagination.  They felt they could sway him with a good sob story.  Some others came with better requests,  like protection.  Couriering.  Investigation.  Stuff  that he didn't have to see the inside of a jail cell for.  He wasn't a desperate fool,  thank you very much. 

But an extraction was a new one, and the prospect intrigued him. 

When Maddie pulled out a sheaf of  bills enough to pay for his extravagant lifestyle for a few months, he'd freaked out internally.  But her seriousness could not be doubted,  and he found himself saying yes. But before he made a move,  he had to investigate. 

Despite how late it was, practically in the wee hours, he found himself pulling out his chunky old laptop and hitting the web. Maddie wasn't sure which pack her friend came from.  She had met Sakura Honda in Miami,  and they'd developed a short but fast friendship.  Sakura herself hadn't been at liberty to tell her,  so Maddie had to do some figuring out on her own. She narrowed it down to about five packs,  and had given him a list. 

"This is based on my own research," she'd told him.  "But if your expertise tells you to look elsewhere,  please do. "

A short sweet update!