A knock on the door came during my search, causing me to wonder if maybe Miranda was home and forgot her key. When I went to answer the door, I flicked on the patio light. I stupidly didn’t look before I answered. To my very great surprise, Cale was at the door. He must have recently gotten a haircut. His red hair was cropped close to his head, giving him a better appearance than his previous ridiculous style. Cale wore faded jeans, a Nirvana t-shirt, and a yellow jacket. With the casual ensemble along with the haircut, I nearly hadn’t recognize him. His eyes looked hollow, empty. I didn’t like the way he looked at me.
Cale spared me a small wave that I didn’t return. “What, no hello?” There was a smirk on his thin lips.
I simply stared at him, suddenly fearful of my memory of him the night of the party. Cale wanted to attack me, and if hadn’t been for Matt, he would have.
“I heard you quit.”
All I could do was give an awkward shrug in response. “Is this the part where you threaten me not to reveal what you are?” I didn’t know why I was always asking people what part we were at. I suppose because I felt like we were all trapped in our own wicked fairytale that would most likely have a horrible ending for me. There was no way I could know about the werewolves’ secret and come out of this alive.
Cale gave a gentle roll of his shoulders. “Nah. You would have said something if you planned on squealing.” All I could do was stare at him. I had no idea what to make of this new arrival. “Aren’t ya gonna invite me in?” He tilted his head to watch me. My head slowly shook at the question. I was not. Cale watched me with unblinking eyes. “You sure you want to quit?”
“Why are you here?” I didn’t want to exchange pleasantries or small talk. I didn’t like Cale as much as he didn’t like me. There was no point in us pretending otherwise. “And how do you know where I live?”
“Employee records,” he answered matter of factly. I didn’t want to know the how per se. I just wanted him to leave. Cale smiled. “I figured since you’re now in on our dirty little secret, you might as well join the club.”
“I would really prefer not to.”
At my quiet and polite response, Cale’s smirk grew. “What’s wrong, Everly?” he drawled, slowly expanding my name to sound longer than it actually was. “You don’t want a dose of immortality?”
All I could do was blink as I shook my head. This seemed like a very strange game, one that I didn’t know the rules for. I didn’t know what to say or do; part of me suspected Cale only came to my house to mock me.
“Aren’t you curious?” he asked coyly, tilting his copper head to watch me. “Aren’t you wondering what it is we need to do to survive?”
“I take it you and Matt spoke,” I whispered, too afraid to raise the volume in case Simon were around to possibly overhear us.
“He was never going to allow you to join,” acknowledged Cale with a dark chuckle. He ignored my question, making me wonder if Matt hadn’t told him anything. Cale had just been in the conference center to overhear us. “Him and his nobility. I came to work early. I overheard you two. You neglected to ask the most important questions regarding what we are.”
“I…I don’t know what those are.”
“Ohh c’mon,” teased Cale, leaning himself against my doorframe. “You didn’t ask if we can only change on a full moon, and you didn’t ask what we need to eat in order not to age.”
At this point, I was becoming very afraid. There was no part of me that believed Cale came to my home to simply explain all my unanswered questions. He wanted to scare me. Worse, he was succeeding. “We change only at night, anytime, anywhere…” He smiled coldly. “There doesn’t need to be full moonlight.”
I was shivering from fear. He was having fun scaring me; that much was certain. I wanted to slam the door in his face and lock it, but I also felt compelled to learn more. “As for what we eat…” he teased, bracing both hands on the doorway as he leaned toward me. “We maintain a rather human diet, but we need something very special to maintain our immortality. Do you know what that is?”
Obviously, I had no idea what he was referring to. He didn’t come here to simply be helpful and shed light on the topic. My eyes were wide and unblinking as I struggled not to tremble. He was enjoying my fear. “The most vital part of the human body. The lifeline that everyone must have in order to survive. We feast on it to maintain our immortality,” Cale breathed, his eerie eyes also unblinking as he watched me.
“A heart,” I murmured, the guess coming to mind immediately.
“Exactly.” Cale smiled serenely. “The exact organ that was torn out of your neighbor.” My stomach dropped to my feet as my eyes widened. There was no way he would or should know such a thing. Cale smiled wickedly, tossing me a light wink as my eyes welled up with tears. I was terrified.
“Have a goodnight, Everly. We’ll see each other real soon.”
That didn’t sound like a threat as much as it did a promise.
CHAPTER 15
As soon Cale left, I waited by the front door for Miranda to arrive home. I didn’t know if he could possibly be lurking outside in the dark, sitting in wait to attack her. I didn’t know what to expect from him, so I expected anything. It was probably only paranoia to believe that, but I didn’t put it past him. Cale came to the house in what was clearly a move to intimidate me by showcasing that he killed my neighbor. There was truly no telling what he was capable of.
When Miranda finally arrived home and was safely inside the house, I quickly closed and locked the front door. She was grumbling about her bad day and paid no attention to my detail in making sure the door was secured. As I went about my task, my teeth were chattering as I gave thought to whether or not Cale was strong enough to break down a wooden door. According to forums, myths, and traditional werewolf lore in general, werewolves had enhanced speed, agility, and strength. It wasn’t irrational to believe Cale could break down the house’s standard wooden door if he really wanted to.
“Everly, are you even listening to me?” I gave a shake of my head to my sister as I quickly closed the blinds. Miranda looked annoyed that my attention wasn’t specifically on her alone. She made her way to the kitchen before pulling the leftovers out of the fridge. “Matt’s ghosting me. Has he said anything about me at work?”
That was a bit odd because Miranda and I didn’t usually talk about boys. Matt had been a taboo topic the two of us had avoided, but the mere mention of my supervisor got my head perking up, momentarily forgetting about the threat of Cale. I had a strange feeling of pleasure that Matt wasn’t talking to her.
“Uh, no.”
Matt said a lot of things today. He admitted he was a supernatural creature that was nearly a century old. But he didn’t mention my sister, and I was highly doubtful she would believe me if I told her the part of him being a werewolf. Miranda looked annoyed as she went through the process of spooning food onto her plate before setting it in the microwave to reheat. Even while pouting, she looked picture perfect, almost like a porcelain doll. It was hard to imagine she didn’t always get her way when it came to men.