Series 4 Episode 6
"Scorch"
Enjoying the cool breeze brushing through her hair in the dead of night, Yasmin was realising just how therapeutic a late-night stroll could be. The heat of the summer could be exceedingly overbearing at times, so the cold air of the night was refreshing.
Less comfortable was the harsh, gravelly feel of the concrete road on her bare feet. She knew she had to invest in a pair of slippers. Her dressing gown fluttered in the breeze behind her. Not the best attire for a trip out, even if nobody was likely to see her.
Something didn’t add up. By now, Yasmin was well aware of what was going on when things didn’t seem quite right. She would never normally have left the house his late, certainly not without shoes or more appropriate clothing. What’s more is that she was walking down the centre of the road. Thankfully, it was a quiet road, with no cars at this time of night, but Yasmin was never one to take a risk like that.
She recognised it, though. This was the road that Drew’s bunker entrance was on. Though she wanted to go home, and back to the comfort of her duvet and pillows, Yasmin knew she was there for a reason. She had to keep going.
She kept her focus, grabbing her phone from her dressing gown pocket; her subconscious must have picked it up from the beside cabinet on the way out. She got ready to call Dylan, knowing he was just the person she needed when she reached her destination.
Approaching the entrance to the bunker, Yasmin noticed it was blocked by something dark. There was little in the way of natural light, but Yasmin could make out the general shape – a body. A human body. She shone her torch light on it.
Immediately, she shot backwards. The sight as hideous. It looked like the person’s skin had been burnt off, and so little of it remained. The call had to be made. This was a warning.
Less comfortable was the harsh, gravelly feel of the concrete road on her bare feet. She knew she had to invest in a pair of slippers. Her dressing gown fluttered in the breeze behind her. Not the best attire for a trip out, even if nobody was likely to see her.
Something didn’t add up. By now, Yasmin was well aware of what was going on when things didn’t seem quite right. She would never normally have left the house his late, certainly not without shoes or more appropriate clothing. What’s more is that she was walking down the centre of the road. Thankfully, it was a quiet road, with no cars at this time of night, but Yasmin was never one to take a risk like that.
She recognised it, though. This was the road that Drew’s bunker entrance was on. Though she wanted to go home, and back to the comfort of her duvet and pillows, Yasmin knew she was there for a reason. She had to keep going.
She kept her focus, grabbing her phone from her dressing gown pocket; her subconscious must have picked it up from the beside cabinet on the way out. She got ready to call Dylan, knowing he was just the person she needed when she reached her destination.
Approaching the entrance to the bunker, Yasmin noticed it was blocked by something dark. There was little in the way of natural light, but Yasmin could make out the general shape – a body. A human body. She shone her torch light on it.
Immediately, she shot backwards. The sight as hideous. It looked like the person’s skin had been burnt off, and so little of it remained. The call had to be made. This was a warning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday morning. The weekend at last. Dylan had been looking forward to this all week. School had been strangely normal, and just as tedious as ever. Equally though, there hadn’t been hide nor hair of the Fenrir in over a week, since the sheriff station incident, which made Dylan feel much more at ease. Perhaps the pack’s warning did scare it off after all.
However, Saturday wasn’t quite going the way Dylan had hoped so far. Instead of having a lie-in, wrapped in Jono’s arms, he was sat out in the humid air of the summer night after a worrying phone call from Yasmin. Dylan had brought Ed with him, who called the disgusting, rotting corpse in to the station. Now a team of forensic scientists were flooding around it, at half past four in the morning.
Dylan’s job, however, was to take care of Yasmin. They were sat on the curb, Dylan’s jacket covering Yasmin’s legs like a blanket.
“This is what you can do?” Dylan queried. He knew Yasmin was part-nix, but not the specifics.
“I find dead bodies. Yay,” Yasmin sarcastically replied.
“Don’t knock it. You’ve got a skill none of the rest of us have,” Dylan encouraged. He had taken to Yasmin very quickly, and nobody was better at helping him with maths homework.
“I guess. Suppose I’m not loving life. A forever single undertaker,” Yasmin laughed ironically.
“You’re so much more than that. I swear your IQ is higher than all of ours combined,” Dylan complimented. He hated people feeling down on themselves, especially people he cared about so deeply.
Ed came over to the curb, crouching down in front of them.
“We’re done here. Going to run some tests to figure out this poor person’s identity,” Ed explained, “Sorry you had to see that.”
“Is there any CCTV around here?” Dylan queried.
“Unfortunately not. I was wondering if you had any theories?” Ed wondered.
“It’s a little coincidental that it’s right by Drew’s bunker,” Dylan suggested. He didn’t believe in coincidences in the werewolf world.
“My thoughts exactly. We can’t prove anything yet but I’ll keep you updated,” Ed responded diplomatically, “You two should get home. I can call you if we come across anything.”
Dylan couldn’t say no. He didn’t want to let Yasmin out of his sight, but equally, his eyes were heavy. Sleep was calling.
Normally a jolly, jovial tone, Dylan was not thrilled to hear the sound of his ringtone waking him up. He’d gained an extra few hours of sleep, but they were on Yasmin’s carpet, with one pillow, and a blanket for a duvet. Jono was still at Dylan’s house, in Dylan’s bed, but Dylan had already left a note explaining his absence. One problem ticked off.
Dylan reached for his phone, seeing it was Ed calling. Shit. Must have been an emergency. He answered the call.
“Hey,” Dylan slurred, not fully awake yet. Being woke up twice in three hours by the same ringtone was not the most pleasant experience.
“Dylan, we’ve got four reports of homicides, all with their skin burnt like the guy we found earlier,” Ed explained. He sounded flustered, which was unlike him.
“Send me the locations, we can get there,” Dylan offered. This was undoubtedly planned.
“I’ve got deputies on the way to each one, but you’re right, this can’t be a coincidence. Just, be careful, please,” Ed continued.
“I will. Thanks,” Dylan hung up, immediately thinking through a plan of action. However, he knew he needed Yasmin’s touch. Gently, he woke her up; somehow, she had not been disturbed by Dylan’s penetrating ringtone.
“What’s up?” she questioned, trying to adapt to the light.
“Emergency from Ed. Four homicides in four locations, all killed the same way. Ed wants us to investigate,” Dylan explained.
“Alright, let’s go,” Yasmin shoved her duvet out of the way and rushed to the dresser.
“We can’t go to them all, though. Maybe that’s the trap,” Dylan realised, “Keeping us occupied and out of Crystalshaw.”
“We can split up then, call the others,” Yasmin suggested.
“It could be dangerous. I can’t put them at risk, especially anyone who can’t heal like me,” Dylan considered. People like Jono, Lily, George and of course Yasmin herself were human. Any injuries sustained would be far more impactful than for one of the werewolves. That said, Dylan doubted that even he could survive being burnt like that. The corpse he saw had no skin left.
“We can put one werewolf to one human. Easy,” Yasmin decided, figuring out the math in her head, “We can head out together now. Freddie and George can go together.” It was a good plan, as always from Yasmin.
“Jono’s at mine, he can go with Josh,” Dylan added.
“Which leaves Drew and Lily,” Yasmin finalised.
“Wait, what if this is a trap? They want us out of the way so they can attack. Whoever they are,” Dylan considered. He had been a werewolf for long enough to see how cunning some people were. He could only trust his friends.
“Noah. He can go to the sheriff station, help Ed out,” Yasmin suggested.
“Noah? He can’t fight, he doesn’t know how to protect himself, let alone anyone else,” Dylan was worried.
“Which makes him our best weapon,” Yasmin justified, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get dressed.” Dylan laughed, stepping outside the door for a few minutes.
His phone buzzed again. Ed had texted the locations. The plan was on.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Jono’s phone was vibrating incessantly. The vibration was so loud and sudden that it jolted him awake. He looked to Dylan, only to find an empty space next to him, and a note scribbled on a torn-out page from a notebook.
“Huh?” Jono picked it up. He read it aloud, “With Yasmin. Didn’t want to wake you.” Three kisses followed. Too cute.
He checked his phone. Yet another message from Dylan: “Need your help. Please take Josh and go to the shitty hotel down town. Homicide, look out for anything supernatural. Love you.” Three kisses again. Still cute, but the rest of it was too serious to be distracted.
Jono yanked his t-shirt from the floor and sprinted into Josh’s room. This felt like déjà vu, it was exactly what he did when Dylan lost his memory. Jono drew the curtains, nudged Josh awake and collated some clothes off the floor of the messy room for him to wear.
“What’s up? Is Dylan okay?” Josh instantly queried.
“Come on, we’ve got a mission,” Josh ordered, “Downstairs in five.” Jono bounded downstairs, leaving Josh to it. He filled up the kettle and prepared a flask of tea; he desperately needed that extra caffeine first thing in the morning.
“You’re up early, where’s Dylan?” Caroline noticed.
“Long story. We gotta go out for a bit,” Jono brushed her off. Dylan had given him strict instructions to not involve her where possible. He needed to protect his mum, just as Jono himself never involved his own parents, but Caroline didn’t make it easy.
Josh skipped down the stairs, giving Jono the perfect chance to avoid more questions.
“Jono, I swear to god, if Dylan’s in danger,” Caroline continued.
“He’s fine, I promise,” Jono kindly reassured, before leaving the room. He hated withholding information, but equally, he wasn’t lying.
“What’s the deal?” Josh queried on their way out to the car, “I mean, something’s totally up. I’m kinda worried.”
“Same,” Jono sighed. He wasn’t really sure what was going on either, but when Dylan called, he didn’t need to ask twice.
Yasmin was pretty amazed that any deputy would so freely allow a couple of teenagers into a crime scene, particularly a homicide. This deputy almost certainly had no knowledge of werewolves, either. Yasmin supposed Ed had briefed her already. The benefit of him being Dylan’s step dad. This wasn’t by-the-book at all, and Ed could easily come under fire if his superiors found out about this.
That said, Dylan was right. The body earlier being at Drew’s bunker. Her premonitions. None of this happened by accident.
Keeping her theories in mind, Yasmin followed Dylan through the fire exit at the side, creeping in with her senses on high alert. It was weird to see the coffee shop so quiet, especially on a Saturday.
Locating the body wasn’t difficult. Lying on the counter was the rotting corpse of a human, looking no less horrific than the one she saw that morning. Ed was right – the skin had been scorched so much that barely any was left. Dylan next to her was trying to put on a brave face, but it was obviously affecting him.
“We got this,” Yasmin encouraged.
“You don’t get used to this, do you?” Dylan commented.
“No, no you don’t,” Yasmin responded. She was certainly the expert when it came to dead bodies.
“Any feelings here?” Dylan questioned.
Yasmin listened to her mind, hoping a clue would be there. Silence. She felt just like her usual self.
“Nada,” Yasmin replied. Dylan looked around aimlessly. Yasmin tried to be proactive, looking around the body, checking for any clues.
“Is it just me who feels like Scooby-Doo?” Dylan remarked.
“You’re more Shaggy. I’m totally Velma,” Yasmin laughed with him. However, Dylan froze, his smile fading to a straight face. He raised his index finger to his lip.
“Something’s here,” he whispered.
He crept slowly but surely back to the fire exit. Yasmin could hear footsteps, and banging on the fire exit door. Was it the killer? Yasmin felt her heart pumping faster and harsher than before. She was scared.
The footsteps got nearer, and nearer, and nearer. The door burst open. Dylan was about to pounce.
“Wait!” Yasmin called out. She recognised the perpetrator, “Diego, what the heck are you doing here?” Dylan restrained himself.
“I heard something had gone down, I had to investigate,” Diego explained, “Sorry. I didn’t realise you guys would be here.”
“It’s fine, no harm in an extra pair of hands,” Yasmin welcomed. She looked at Dylan, who seemed a little lost, “Right Dylan?”
“Yeah,” he sheepishly replied, “How did you even know to come here? Not like it’s common knowledge.”
“I live down the road, I could smell something was up,” Diego justified, “I’m glad you’re okay, by the way. Jono was worried.”
Diego had been pretty helpful with the Fenrir. Yasmin was hoping she could pool his wisdom once again.
There was nowhere Freddie wanted to be less on a Saturday than school. He didn’t even want to be there on a weekday, and only kept going because he knew George would give him a complete bollocking if he didn’t go.
Now he and George had been sent on a mission by Dylan, and despite the location, Freddie found it pretty exciting. He might as well have been a special agent for the police. If video gaming fell through, Freddie had found his back-up career.
“Where are we going?” Freddie questioned.
“I don’t know, follow your nose,” George instructed.
Freddie paid attention to the scents around him. Places as busy as schools had so many scents scattered all around. All of the hundreds of teenagers that had roamed the corridor for the past week. The chemicals from the science lab. The food and drink in the canteen.
However, Freddie had to look past that. His senses were getting better and better the more he focused. He tried to find something he didn’t recognise in the air. Sure enough, there it was, repugnant as anything.
“Down here,” Freddie led the way to their maths classroom. The stench was undeniably coming from there.
Freddie opened the door, not being able to see anything. He cautiously poked his head into the doorway. Horrified, there was the body. Slouching over the desk at the back. Blood was dripping all over the floor, drooping still like a leak. Freddie went over to examine it, trying his best to be brave. It smelt awful, unlike anything he had ever smelt before. Like it was still cooking.
“Be careful,” George tugged on his sleeve.
“What have I got to lose?” Freddie shrugged himself free.
“Don’t say that,” George responded, with a serious look on his face. Freddie stopped in his tracks. He’d buried his head in the sand all week. Sure, breaking up with Yasmin was the right decision, but that didn’t make it easy to deal with. Being friends wasn’t as easy as he thought.
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” Freddie felt bad. He would never prioritise any girl over George. Nobody mattered more than him.
“You might have nothing to lose, but I damn well do,” George reminded, raising his eyebrows to Freddie. He nodded in response. He hadn’t thought of it that way.
Freddie continued making his way over to the body, George following nervously behind. There was no sign of any weapon. However, for Dylan to be involved, there had to be something more. Something that wasn’t visible to the uninitiated in the werewolf world.
“Look at this,” George picked up an ID card off the floor, gulped, and showed it to Freddie. His heart dropped. The ID card belonged to Mr. Larsen. Killed in his own classroom. He was barely recognisable. Freddie felt sick from the bottom of his stomach.
“Who would do this?” Freddie tried to word his feelings, but it was tough.
“Nothing human,” George observed. He picked out something from the body, much to Freddie’s disgust.
“Dude,” Freddie disapproved.
“It’s a hair. One way longer than anything Mr. Larsen had on his head,” George notified, “Come on, we’d better take this to Ed.” This could be the breakthrough clue they desperately needed.
Lily always used to love going to the playground as a kid. It was located in the forest of Crystalshaw, in a clearing of the tress. This meant it had such a magical quality to it. As a young kid, the mystery of the trees always enchanted her. It made sense, her favourite books were the Faraway Tree series after all.
Now though, it felt creepier than anything. She knew what lurked in those woods. If the authorities had any idea, they would not allow a kids’ park to be placed that near.
Of course, the park was now deserted, save for a couple of deputies guarding the outside perimeter. Drew was with her, which put Lily’s mind at rest. The fact he was a werewolf again was extremely reassuring. She had started her self-defence lessons with Ed, and they were going well, but Lily knew she needed Drew on her side. Seeing how much it took for the Fenrir to be defeated, it didn’t fill her with much confidence in her own abilities.
“Woah,” Drew exclaimed as they got inside the gates. The body was draped over one of the swings, obviously placed there after the deed was done. This was no accident.
“Oh god,” Lily shielded her eyes, seeing the awful state of the body. What a waste of an innocent life. She wasn’t usually squeamish, but this took it to the next level.
“I can’t recognise the scent, it’s like it’s still cooking,” Drew detailed, “You’d have to be heartless to do this.”
“You’d know,” Lily remarked.
“I’m not a killer though,” Drew defended himself. Of course, Lily knew this, but she felt comfortable enough to joke in his presence.
“Are you totally normal now?” Lily wondered, changing the subject. Little had been said about how Drew became a werewolf again – Lily assumed Dylan had discussed it with him and little more had to be said – but she couldn’t help being curious.
“Nobody is totally normal,” Drew replied, irritatingly vaguely, “But I know what you mean, and yeah, I think so.”
“You think?” Lily noted his lack of certainty.
“Nothing is straightforward, especially in the werewolf world,” Drew explained.
“Maybe it is. Just this once, you’re allowed your happy ending,” Lily considered. Jono always said she was good at offering comfort. Now she could hopefully extend that to Drew.
“I’d love to believe that, but when you’ve seen your parents killed for something they’re not. When everyone you know is slaughtered. You start losing faith in happy endings,” Drew opened up. Lily hadn’t heard Drew offer much in the way of his life story, so hearing him open up was an admission of trust. Lily didn’t take it for granted.
“Alright then, any scents?” Lily queried. Enough had been said, she didn’t need to delve any further.
“Nothing,” Drew informed, “Hold on. Someone’s coming.”
Drew helped Lily to climb over the small fence that bordered the park, and they hid behind a wide tree trunk. Lily felt nervous. Surely an intruder would be caught by the deputies? They didn’t react, though, continuing to keep their backs to the playground, totally oblivious.
The intruder was fully masked, their identity shrouded entirely. Lily couldn’t even figure out if they were male or female. The intruder took their backpack off, digging an aerosol out of it, spraying what looked like deodorant around and over the body. How incredibly random. The intruder then flung it back in their back and left the scene. Everything seemed to be making less and less sense.
“Who the heck was that?” Lily wondered.
“I recognise that scent,” Drew mentioned, “Something’s up.”
There was nothing like a spot of music to wake Jono up. His playlist was full of new energetic tracks – “I Love It” by Oscar Enestad and “Tempo” by Margaret being two of his current favourites.
Of course, he had already added them to Dylan’s playlist for him to check out. He’d had to teach him about the playlist from scratch. The past week had basically been about re-establishing a routine, and reliving past memories too. Jono had even taken Dylan to retrace their steps of the night they first kissed, but nothing jogged his memory.
It was a weird feeling. He knew how he felt about Dylan, and that never changed, but Dylan had to re-learn how to love him back. Love like that couldn’t just be taught. It was a relief that Dylan had adapted like a duck to water.
“Here? Really?” Josh remarked as Jono pulled up outside Crystalshaw Palace, a name that could easily have this hotel sued for false advertising. It seemed to have management with delusions of the two-star residence actually being five stars. Even those two stars felt exceptionally generous.
“Hey, you really think I’d choose this dump?” Jono clarified.
“Says Mr. Moneybags,” Josh scoffed. He meant it light-heartedly but Jono hated any mention of his family’s wealth, “You didn’t have to live here when you first arrived in Crystalshaw.”
This was news to Jono. Though he and Josh were close friends, he had very little knowledge of where he stayed before Caroline and Ed fostered him. This was proving to be more eye-opening than he expected.
Jono pushed open the door, creaking on its hinges, and he held it open for Josh.
“Just as glamorous as I recall,” Josh muttered sarcastically.
Jono had never been inside before, but it was basically as he expected. There was a slightly damp smell in the air, and a thin layer of dust covering all of the surfaces. Ornaments decorated the lobby, as if they had tried to decorate the place to make it look sophisticated, though it was painfully obvious they were bought for less than five dollars in the antique store across the road.
Completing the design, of course, was the dead body. A disfigured, scorched corpse, laid out over the reception desk. Josh brazenly went to approach it.
“Don’t touch it,” Jono warned. He had seen enough articles through his research to know how easy it was to get framed. They did not need their DNA anywhere near that body, even if Ed could back them up.
“Trust me dude, I’m not putting my hands anywhere near that thing,” Josh responded. He looked behind the counter, checking nobody was spying on them, before examining the corpse. Jono didn’t feel like getting too near it, he had always been pretty squeamish.
“Hey, it’s someone’s phone,” Josh noticed, picking it up. Jono despaired at how readily he picked it up, spreading his DNA.
“You’d better hope that’s not the victim’s,” Jono sighed.
“Not quite,” Josh replied, a worried tone creeping into his voice. He brought the phone over to Jono and pressed the home button. The lock screen lit up. Jono couldn’t believe his eyes. A photo of Noah adorned the lock screen. The sooner they got to the bottom of this, the better.
Noah couldn’t sit still. He had taken one of the swivel chairs in the sheriff station, which was alarmingly pretty quiet. Many of the deputies had been dispatched to deal with the bodies, so only a couple remained alongside Ed. Noah felt on edge as a result, as if he were sat on a cliff waiting for something to push him off the edge, but he didn’t know when. It made time pass pretty darn slowly.
Being a part of a pack was hard work, even when he signed up for it himself. Noah knew he had to do this, for his own sake as well as Dylan’s, but he missed his old life. His old nerves and anxiety weren’t gone now, but Dylan promised he could teach him control. He had to have faith.
“Tea? Coffee?” Ed offered.
“I don’t think a cup would survive in my hands right now,” Noah admitted.
“Anything you wanna talk about?” Ed sat down on the table next to him.
“I’m not of any use to you here, or anywhere,” Noah admitted. He felt he had a sense of responsibility to be honest with Ed.
“I don’t believe there’s anyone who’s no use to someone,” Ed replied, “You’ll find your place. Dylan will never leave you in the cold.”
Before Noah could say anything more, the front entrance door burst open.
“What’s going on?” a determined Caroline brushed through.
“Good morning honey, how is your day going?” Ed cheekily replied.
“You’re totally up to something with Dylan. I’m part of this, Edward, you can’t sneak around anymore,” Caroline reasoned.
Noah couldn’t imagine his dad knowing about him being a werewolf. Above all else, he probably wouldn’t have believed him.
“Maybe we should have a chat in my office?” Ed suggested. It made sense. His deputies didn’t know a thing about the werewolf world, after all.
“I’m not missing this,” Noah stood up, refusing to miss out on the drama. It was a welcome distraction from all the shit going on in his own life. He followed them into the office, the door slamming behind him.
“Come on then you two,” Caroline demanded. Noah was letting Ed do the talking, but his ears were keenly open.
Disappointed that the café murder hadn’t turned up any clues, Dylan was feeling antsy. There was no news from neither Ed nor Noah, and no news was good news, but Dylan couldn’t help being paranoid. What if they’d been attacked and weren’t able to get in contact?
What’s more, Dylan wasn’t sure how much he trusted Diego. The werewolf world had taught him to keep his cards close to his chest, and that many people were not what they seemed. Though Dylan knew Diego from around school, the only information about him in a supernatural sense had come via Jono. Apparently, he’d been helpful about the Fenrir, but had also inadvertently brought it to Crystalshaw.
Dylan was keen to use the drive back to the station to delve a little deeper into the details of Diego’s life.
“How long have you been in Crystalshaw?” Dylan made conversation from the passenger seat of Yasmin’s car, making eye contact with Diego through the rear-view mirror.
“Just a few weeks. I started school a couple days after we moved in,” Diego explained. Dylan took mental notes, being the best undercover journalist he could.
“We?” Dylan picked up.
“Me and my parents,” Diego replied.
“Why did you move?” Dylan continued.
“Dude, calm the questions,” Yasmin interrupted.
“It’s alright. We moved because of the Fenrir. It was stalking all of us. My parents are both werecoyotes, so I was born one,” Diego explained. It fit perfectly with what he told Jono. No discrepancies. However, Dylan still felt unsure. He trusted his gut more than anything, after all.
The car pulled up outside the station and Dylan sprinted inside, the others not far behind. Stunned, he saw his mum there, alongside the rest of the pack, as if they had been waiting for him.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Dylan worriedly queried.
“Lending a hand. I think you’d better listen to your friends, Dylan,” Caroline advised. Dylan looked around. Obviously, the others had had more luck than him with their investigations.
“The report from the lab came back,” Ed explained, “The body Yasmin found this morning was Deputy Ronnie Ravera, also known as…”
“The Fenrir,” Dylan identified without an issue, “Someone got to him.”
“That’s not all,” Freddie took over, “The body we found as Mr. Larsen. We found a hair on it, way longer than his own hair was.” Dylan’s stomach dropped. His maths teacher had been murdered? What the fuck?
“We saw somebody spraying deodorant over the body in the park,” Drew educated, “We didn’t see who, but I recognised the scent.” Dylan was beginning to feel worried. This seemed to be building somewhere, but he didn’t know where yet. That terrified him the most.
“Whose scent?” Dylan desperately questioned.
“We found a phone,” Josh took over, ignoring the question, “The phone was Noah’s.”
Dylan looked around the room. Everyone was there except Noah.
“Where is he?” Dylan questioned, extremely concerned.
“Can’t lie sweetie, the evidence is pretty conclusive,” Caroline tried to soften the blow, but it wasn’t much use. Dylan had no idea how to feel, but it wasn’t good.
“I need to see him,” Dylan demanded.
“Not now. Best you keep your distance,” Ed responded. Dylan rolled his eyes, fed up, and rushed out of the station. He needed space and fresh air.
Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Dylan had been monitoring his breathing for about ten minutes. He wasn’t an angry person. It took a lot to make him snap.
That said, Dylan didn’t really feel like himself anyway. His emotions were heightened. He couldn’t quite find his anchor. What had kept him calm all this time? He knew about having an anchor, but he didn’t have any idea who his own one was. It was like a massive, heavy, metal door was standing between him and the answer.
Maybe it was Yasmin, his best friend? Josh, his original alpha and brother? Caroline, the mum who raised him alone for the past six years? Perhaps it was Jono – the love of his life? Dylan wanted his memories back more than anything, because without them, he wasn’t himself.
He’d kept this from everyone over the past week, too. Perhaps it would subside and he’d make his way through?
“Hey,” he heard from behind him. Undoubtedly, that was the voice of Jono. Just the person Dylan needed. The mere tone of his voice felt soothing and relaxing, and Dylan felt his heart rate decreasing instantly. Jono came and sat next to him, his adorable, kind face making eye contact, “I’m sorry you had to find out like that. Kinda overwhelming, I know.”
“Everything makes so little sense to me,” Dylan admitted. He had spent the last ten minutes trying to piece things together in his mind, but it wasn’t coming together, “There’s so much evidence against him, but there is no way any killer would be this sloppy.”
“I’m glad you noticed too,” Jono admitted, “The evidence was too much for Ed, but everything feels too convenient. Noah’s not like that.”
“He’s being framed,” Dylan concluded, “Come on. We’ve got some detective work to do.”
He wasn’t going to give up until he was proved right. Dylan was more determined than ever.
However, Saturday wasn’t quite going the way Dylan had hoped so far. Instead of having a lie-in, wrapped in Jono’s arms, he was sat out in the humid air of the summer night after a worrying phone call from Yasmin. Dylan had brought Ed with him, who called the disgusting, rotting corpse in to the station. Now a team of forensic scientists were flooding around it, at half past four in the morning.
Dylan’s job, however, was to take care of Yasmin. They were sat on the curb, Dylan’s jacket covering Yasmin’s legs like a blanket.
“This is what you can do?” Dylan queried. He knew Yasmin was part-nix, but not the specifics.
“I find dead bodies. Yay,” Yasmin sarcastically replied.
“Don’t knock it. You’ve got a skill none of the rest of us have,” Dylan encouraged. He had taken to Yasmin very quickly, and nobody was better at helping him with maths homework.
“I guess. Suppose I’m not loving life. A forever single undertaker,” Yasmin laughed ironically.
“You’re so much more than that. I swear your IQ is higher than all of ours combined,” Dylan complimented. He hated people feeling down on themselves, especially people he cared about so deeply.
Ed came over to the curb, crouching down in front of them.
“We’re done here. Going to run some tests to figure out this poor person’s identity,” Ed explained, “Sorry you had to see that.”
“Is there any CCTV around here?” Dylan queried.
“Unfortunately not. I was wondering if you had any theories?” Ed wondered.
“It’s a little coincidental that it’s right by Drew’s bunker,” Dylan suggested. He didn’t believe in coincidences in the werewolf world.
“My thoughts exactly. We can’t prove anything yet but I’ll keep you updated,” Ed responded diplomatically, “You two should get home. I can call you if we come across anything.”
Dylan couldn’t say no. He didn’t want to let Yasmin out of his sight, but equally, his eyes were heavy. Sleep was calling.
Normally a jolly, jovial tone, Dylan was not thrilled to hear the sound of his ringtone waking him up. He’d gained an extra few hours of sleep, but they were on Yasmin’s carpet, with one pillow, and a blanket for a duvet. Jono was still at Dylan’s house, in Dylan’s bed, but Dylan had already left a note explaining his absence. One problem ticked off.
Dylan reached for his phone, seeing it was Ed calling. Shit. Must have been an emergency. He answered the call.
“Hey,” Dylan slurred, not fully awake yet. Being woke up twice in three hours by the same ringtone was not the most pleasant experience.
“Dylan, we’ve got four reports of homicides, all with their skin burnt like the guy we found earlier,” Ed explained. He sounded flustered, which was unlike him.
“Send me the locations, we can get there,” Dylan offered. This was undoubtedly planned.
“I’ve got deputies on the way to each one, but you’re right, this can’t be a coincidence. Just, be careful, please,” Ed continued.
“I will. Thanks,” Dylan hung up, immediately thinking through a plan of action. However, he knew he needed Yasmin’s touch. Gently, he woke her up; somehow, she had not been disturbed by Dylan’s penetrating ringtone.
“What’s up?” she questioned, trying to adapt to the light.
“Emergency from Ed. Four homicides in four locations, all killed the same way. Ed wants us to investigate,” Dylan explained.
“Alright, let’s go,” Yasmin shoved her duvet out of the way and rushed to the dresser.
“We can’t go to them all, though. Maybe that’s the trap,” Dylan realised, “Keeping us occupied and out of Crystalshaw.”
“We can split up then, call the others,” Yasmin suggested.
“It could be dangerous. I can’t put them at risk, especially anyone who can’t heal like me,” Dylan considered. People like Jono, Lily, George and of course Yasmin herself were human. Any injuries sustained would be far more impactful than for one of the werewolves. That said, Dylan doubted that even he could survive being burnt like that. The corpse he saw had no skin left.
“We can put one werewolf to one human. Easy,” Yasmin decided, figuring out the math in her head, “We can head out together now. Freddie and George can go together.” It was a good plan, as always from Yasmin.
“Jono’s at mine, he can go with Josh,” Dylan added.
“Which leaves Drew and Lily,” Yasmin finalised.
“Wait, what if this is a trap? They want us out of the way so they can attack. Whoever they are,” Dylan considered. He had been a werewolf for long enough to see how cunning some people were. He could only trust his friends.
“Noah. He can go to the sheriff station, help Ed out,” Yasmin suggested.
“Noah? He can’t fight, he doesn’t know how to protect himself, let alone anyone else,” Dylan was worried.
“Which makes him our best weapon,” Yasmin justified, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get dressed.” Dylan laughed, stepping outside the door for a few minutes.
His phone buzzed again. Ed had texted the locations. The plan was on.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Jono’s phone was vibrating incessantly. The vibration was so loud and sudden that it jolted him awake. He looked to Dylan, only to find an empty space next to him, and a note scribbled on a torn-out page from a notebook.
“Huh?” Jono picked it up. He read it aloud, “With Yasmin. Didn’t want to wake you.” Three kisses followed. Too cute.
He checked his phone. Yet another message from Dylan: “Need your help. Please take Josh and go to the shitty hotel down town. Homicide, look out for anything supernatural. Love you.” Three kisses again. Still cute, but the rest of it was too serious to be distracted.
Jono yanked his t-shirt from the floor and sprinted into Josh’s room. This felt like déjà vu, it was exactly what he did when Dylan lost his memory. Jono drew the curtains, nudged Josh awake and collated some clothes off the floor of the messy room for him to wear.
“What’s up? Is Dylan okay?” Josh instantly queried.
“Come on, we’ve got a mission,” Josh ordered, “Downstairs in five.” Jono bounded downstairs, leaving Josh to it. He filled up the kettle and prepared a flask of tea; he desperately needed that extra caffeine first thing in the morning.
“You’re up early, where’s Dylan?” Caroline noticed.
“Long story. We gotta go out for a bit,” Jono brushed her off. Dylan had given him strict instructions to not involve her where possible. He needed to protect his mum, just as Jono himself never involved his own parents, but Caroline didn’t make it easy.
Josh skipped down the stairs, giving Jono the perfect chance to avoid more questions.
“Jono, I swear to god, if Dylan’s in danger,” Caroline continued.
“He’s fine, I promise,” Jono kindly reassured, before leaving the room. He hated withholding information, but equally, he wasn’t lying.
“What’s the deal?” Josh queried on their way out to the car, “I mean, something’s totally up. I’m kinda worried.”
“Same,” Jono sighed. He wasn’t really sure what was going on either, but when Dylan called, he didn’t need to ask twice.
Yasmin was pretty amazed that any deputy would so freely allow a couple of teenagers into a crime scene, particularly a homicide. This deputy almost certainly had no knowledge of werewolves, either. Yasmin supposed Ed had briefed her already. The benefit of him being Dylan’s step dad. This wasn’t by-the-book at all, and Ed could easily come under fire if his superiors found out about this.
That said, Dylan was right. The body earlier being at Drew’s bunker. Her premonitions. None of this happened by accident.
Keeping her theories in mind, Yasmin followed Dylan through the fire exit at the side, creeping in with her senses on high alert. It was weird to see the coffee shop so quiet, especially on a Saturday.
Locating the body wasn’t difficult. Lying on the counter was the rotting corpse of a human, looking no less horrific than the one she saw that morning. Ed was right – the skin had been scorched so much that barely any was left. Dylan next to her was trying to put on a brave face, but it was obviously affecting him.
“We got this,” Yasmin encouraged.
“You don’t get used to this, do you?” Dylan commented.
“No, no you don’t,” Yasmin responded. She was certainly the expert when it came to dead bodies.
“Any feelings here?” Dylan questioned.
Yasmin listened to her mind, hoping a clue would be there. Silence. She felt just like her usual self.
“Nada,” Yasmin replied. Dylan looked around aimlessly. Yasmin tried to be proactive, looking around the body, checking for any clues.
“Is it just me who feels like Scooby-Doo?” Dylan remarked.
“You’re more Shaggy. I’m totally Velma,” Yasmin laughed with him. However, Dylan froze, his smile fading to a straight face. He raised his index finger to his lip.
“Something’s here,” he whispered.
He crept slowly but surely back to the fire exit. Yasmin could hear footsteps, and banging on the fire exit door. Was it the killer? Yasmin felt her heart pumping faster and harsher than before. She was scared.
The footsteps got nearer, and nearer, and nearer. The door burst open. Dylan was about to pounce.
“Wait!” Yasmin called out. She recognised the perpetrator, “Diego, what the heck are you doing here?” Dylan restrained himself.
“I heard something had gone down, I had to investigate,” Diego explained, “Sorry. I didn’t realise you guys would be here.”
“It’s fine, no harm in an extra pair of hands,” Yasmin welcomed. She looked at Dylan, who seemed a little lost, “Right Dylan?”
“Yeah,” he sheepishly replied, “How did you even know to come here? Not like it’s common knowledge.”
“I live down the road, I could smell something was up,” Diego justified, “I’m glad you’re okay, by the way. Jono was worried.”
Diego had been pretty helpful with the Fenrir. Yasmin was hoping she could pool his wisdom once again.
There was nowhere Freddie wanted to be less on a Saturday than school. He didn’t even want to be there on a weekday, and only kept going because he knew George would give him a complete bollocking if he didn’t go.
Now he and George had been sent on a mission by Dylan, and despite the location, Freddie found it pretty exciting. He might as well have been a special agent for the police. If video gaming fell through, Freddie had found his back-up career.
“Where are we going?” Freddie questioned.
“I don’t know, follow your nose,” George instructed.
Freddie paid attention to the scents around him. Places as busy as schools had so many scents scattered all around. All of the hundreds of teenagers that had roamed the corridor for the past week. The chemicals from the science lab. The food and drink in the canteen.
However, Freddie had to look past that. His senses were getting better and better the more he focused. He tried to find something he didn’t recognise in the air. Sure enough, there it was, repugnant as anything.
“Down here,” Freddie led the way to their maths classroom. The stench was undeniably coming from there.
Freddie opened the door, not being able to see anything. He cautiously poked his head into the doorway. Horrified, there was the body. Slouching over the desk at the back. Blood was dripping all over the floor, drooping still like a leak. Freddie went over to examine it, trying his best to be brave. It smelt awful, unlike anything he had ever smelt before. Like it was still cooking.
“Be careful,” George tugged on his sleeve.
“What have I got to lose?” Freddie shrugged himself free.
“Don’t say that,” George responded, with a serious look on his face. Freddie stopped in his tracks. He’d buried his head in the sand all week. Sure, breaking up with Yasmin was the right decision, but that didn’t make it easy to deal with. Being friends wasn’t as easy as he thought.
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry,” Freddie felt bad. He would never prioritise any girl over George. Nobody mattered more than him.
“You might have nothing to lose, but I damn well do,” George reminded, raising his eyebrows to Freddie. He nodded in response. He hadn’t thought of it that way.
Freddie continued making his way over to the body, George following nervously behind. There was no sign of any weapon. However, for Dylan to be involved, there had to be something more. Something that wasn’t visible to the uninitiated in the werewolf world.
“Look at this,” George picked up an ID card off the floor, gulped, and showed it to Freddie. His heart dropped. The ID card belonged to Mr. Larsen. Killed in his own classroom. He was barely recognisable. Freddie felt sick from the bottom of his stomach.
“Who would do this?” Freddie tried to word his feelings, but it was tough.
“Nothing human,” George observed. He picked out something from the body, much to Freddie’s disgust.
“Dude,” Freddie disapproved.
“It’s a hair. One way longer than anything Mr. Larsen had on his head,” George notified, “Come on, we’d better take this to Ed.” This could be the breakthrough clue they desperately needed.
Lily always used to love going to the playground as a kid. It was located in the forest of Crystalshaw, in a clearing of the tress. This meant it had such a magical quality to it. As a young kid, the mystery of the trees always enchanted her. It made sense, her favourite books were the Faraway Tree series after all.
Now though, it felt creepier than anything. She knew what lurked in those woods. If the authorities had any idea, they would not allow a kids’ park to be placed that near.
Of course, the park was now deserted, save for a couple of deputies guarding the outside perimeter. Drew was with her, which put Lily’s mind at rest. The fact he was a werewolf again was extremely reassuring. She had started her self-defence lessons with Ed, and they were going well, but Lily knew she needed Drew on her side. Seeing how much it took for the Fenrir to be defeated, it didn’t fill her with much confidence in her own abilities.
“Woah,” Drew exclaimed as they got inside the gates. The body was draped over one of the swings, obviously placed there after the deed was done. This was no accident.
“Oh god,” Lily shielded her eyes, seeing the awful state of the body. What a waste of an innocent life. She wasn’t usually squeamish, but this took it to the next level.
“I can’t recognise the scent, it’s like it’s still cooking,” Drew detailed, “You’d have to be heartless to do this.”
“You’d know,” Lily remarked.
“I’m not a killer though,” Drew defended himself. Of course, Lily knew this, but she felt comfortable enough to joke in his presence.
“Are you totally normal now?” Lily wondered, changing the subject. Little had been said about how Drew became a werewolf again – Lily assumed Dylan had discussed it with him and little more had to be said – but she couldn’t help being curious.
“Nobody is totally normal,” Drew replied, irritatingly vaguely, “But I know what you mean, and yeah, I think so.”
“You think?” Lily noted his lack of certainty.
“Nothing is straightforward, especially in the werewolf world,” Drew explained.
“Maybe it is. Just this once, you’re allowed your happy ending,” Lily considered. Jono always said she was good at offering comfort. Now she could hopefully extend that to Drew.
“I’d love to believe that, but when you’ve seen your parents killed for something they’re not. When everyone you know is slaughtered. You start losing faith in happy endings,” Drew opened up. Lily hadn’t heard Drew offer much in the way of his life story, so hearing him open up was an admission of trust. Lily didn’t take it for granted.
“Alright then, any scents?” Lily queried. Enough had been said, she didn’t need to delve any further.
“Nothing,” Drew informed, “Hold on. Someone’s coming.”
Drew helped Lily to climb over the small fence that bordered the park, and they hid behind a wide tree trunk. Lily felt nervous. Surely an intruder would be caught by the deputies? They didn’t react, though, continuing to keep their backs to the playground, totally oblivious.
The intruder was fully masked, their identity shrouded entirely. Lily couldn’t even figure out if they were male or female. The intruder took their backpack off, digging an aerosol out of it, spraying what looked like deodorant around and over the body. How incredibly random. The intruder then flung it back in their back and left the scene. Everything seemed to be making less and less sense.
“Who the heck was that?” Lily wondered.
“I recognise that scent,” Drew mentioned, “Something’s up.”
There was nothing like a spot of music to wake Jono up. His playlist was full of new energetic tracks – “I Love It” by Oscar Enestad and “Tempo” by Margaret being two of his current favourites.
Of course, he had already added them to Dylan’s playlist for him to check out. He’d had to teach him about the playlist from scratch. The past week had basically been about re-establishing a routine, and reliving past memories too. Jono had even taken Dylan to retrace their steps of the night they first kissed, but nothing jogged his memory.
It was a weird feeling. He knew how he felt about Dylan, and that never changed, but Dylan had to re-learn how to love him back. Love like that couldn’t just be taught. It was a relief that Dylan had adapted like a duck to water.
“Here? Really?” Josh remarked as Jono pulled up outside Crystalshaw Palace, a name that could easily have this hotel sued for false advertising. It seemed to have management with delusions of the two-star residence actually being five stars. Even those two stars felt exceptionally generous.
“Hey, you really think I’d choose this dump?” Jono clarified.
“Says Mr. Moneybags,” Josh scoffed. He meant it light-heartedly but Jono hated any mention of his family’s wealth, “You didn’t have to live here when you first arrived in Crystalshaw.”
This was news to Jono. Though he and Josh were close friends, he had very little knowledge of where he stayed before Caroline and Ed fostered him. This was proving to be more eye-opening than he expected.
Jono pushed open the door, creaking on its hinges, and he held it open for Josh.
“Just as glamorous as I recall,” Josh muttered sarcastically.
Jono had never been inside before, but it was basically as he expected. There was a slightly damp smell in the air, and a thin layer of dust covering all of the surfaces. Ornaments decorated the lobby, as if they had tried to decorate the place to make it look sophisticated, though it was painfully obvious they were bought for less than five dollars in the antique store across the road.
Completing the design, of course, was the dead body. A disfigured, scorched corpse, laid out over the reception desk. Josh brazenly went to approach it.
“Don’t touch it,” Jono warned. He had seen enough articles through his research to know how easy it was to get framed. They did not need their DNA anywhere near that body, even if Ed could back them up.
“Trust me dude, I’m not putting my hands anywhere near that thing,” Josh responded. He looked behind the counter, checking nobody was spying on them, before examining the corpse. Jono didn’t feel like getting too near it, he had always been pretty squeamish.
“Hey, it’s someone’s phone,” Josh noticed, picking it up. Jono despaired at how readily he picked it up, spreading his DNA.
“You’d better hope that’s not the victim’s,” Jono sighed.
“Not quite,” Josh replied, a worried tone creeping into his voice. He brought the phone over to Jono and pressed the home button. The lock screen lit up. Jono couldn’t believe his eyes. A photo of Noah adorned the lock screen. The sooner they got to the bottom of this, the better.
Noah couldn’t sit still. He had taken one of the swivel chairs in the sheriff station, which was alarmingly pretty quiet. Many of the deputies had been dispatched to deal with the bodies, so only a couple remained alongside Ed. Noah felt on edge as a result, as if he were sat on a cliff waiting for something to push him off the edge, but he didn’t know when. It made time pass pretty darn slowly.
Being a part of a pack was hard work, even when he signed up for it himself. Noah knew he had to do this, for his own sake as well as Dylan’s, but he missed his old life. His old nerves and anxiety weren’t gone now, but Dylan promised he could teach him control. He had to have faith.
“Tea? Coffee?” Ed offered.
“I don’t think a cup would survive in my hands right now,” Noah admitted.
“Anything you wanna talk about?” Ed sat down on the table next to him.
“I’m not of any use to you here, or anywhere,” Noah admitted. He felt he had a sense of responsibility to be honest with Ed.
“I don’t believe there’s anyone who’s no use to someone,” Ed replied, “You’ll find your place. Dylan will never leave you in the cold.”
Before Noah could say anything more, the front entrance door burst open.
“What’s going on?” a determined Caroline brushed through.
“Good morning honey, how is your day going?” Ed cheekily replied.
“You’re totally up to something with Dylan. I’m part of this, Edward, you can’t sneak around anymore,” Caroline reasoned.
Noah couldn’t imagine his dad knowing about him being a werewolf. Above all else, he probably wouldn’t have believed him.
“Maybe we should have a chat in my office?” Ed suggested. It made sense. His deputies didn’t know a thing about the werewolf world, after all.
“I’m not missing this,” Noah stood up, refusing to miss out on the drama. It was a welcome distraction from all the shit going on in his own life. He followed them into the office, the door slamming behind him.
“Come on then you two,” Caroline demanded. Noah was letting Ed do the talking, but his ears were keenly open.
Disappointed that the café murder hadn’t turned up any clues, Dylan was feeling antsy. There was no news from neither Ed nor Noah, and no news was good news, but Dylan couldn’t help being paranoid. What if they’d been attacked and weren’t able to get in contact?
What’s more, Dylan wasn’t sure how much he trusted Diego. The werewolf world had taught him to keep his cards close to his chest, and that many people were not what they seemed. Though Dylan knew Diego from around school, the only information about him in a supernatural sense had come via Jono. Apparently, he’d been helpful about the Fenrir, but had also inadvertently brought it to Crystalshaw.
Dylan was keen to use the drive back to the station to delve a little deeper into the details of Diego’s life.
“How long have you been in Crystalshaw?” Dylan made conversation from the passenger seat of Yasmin’s car, making eye contact with Diego through the rear-view mirror.
“Just a few weeks. I started school a couple days after we moved in,” Diego explained. Dylan took mental notes, being the best undercover journalist he could.
“We?” Dylan picked up.
“Me and my parents,” Diego replied.
“Why did you move?” Dylan continued.
“Dude, calm the questions,” Yasmin interrupted.
“It’s alright. We moved because of the Fenrir. It was stalking all of us. My parents are both werecoyotes, so I was born one,” Diego explained. It fit perfectly with what he told Jono. No discrepancies. However, Dylan still felt unsure. He trusted his gut more than anything, after all.
The car pulled up outside the station and Dylan sprinted inside, the others not far behind. Stunned, he saw his mum there, alongside the rest of the pack, as if they had been waiting for him.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Dylan worriedly queried.
“Lending a hand. I think you’d better listen to your friends, Dylan,” Caroline advised. Dylan looked around. Obviously, the others had had more luck than him with their investigations.
“The report from the lab came back,” Ed explained, “The body Yasmin found this morning was Deputy Ronnie Ravera, also known as…”
“The Fenrir,” Dylan identified without an issue, “Someone got to him.”
“That’s not all,” Freddie took over, “The body we found as Mr. Larsen. We found a hair on it, way longer than his own hair was.” Dylan’s stomach dropped. His maths teacher had been murdered? What the fuck?
“We saw somebody spraying deodorant over the body in the park,” Drew educated, “We didn’t see who, but I recognised the scent.” Dylan was beginning to feel worried. This seemed to be building somewhere, but he didn’t know where yet. That terrified him the most.
“Whose scent?” Dylan desperately questioned.
“We found a phone,” Josh took over, ignoring the question, “The phone was Noah’s.”
Dylan looked around the room. Everyone was there except Noah.
“Where is he?” Dylan questioned, extremely concerned.
“Can’t lie sweetie, the evidence is pretty conclusive,” Caroline tried to soften the blow, but it wasn’t much use. Dylan had no idea how to feel, but it wasn’t good.
“I need to see him,” Dylan demanded.
“Not now. Best you keep your distance,” Ed responded. Dylan rolled his eyes, fed up, and rushed out of the station. He needed space and fresh air.
Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Dylan had been monitoring his breathing for about ten minutes. He wasn’t an angry person. It took a lot to make him snap.
That said, Dylan didn’t really feel like himself anyway. His emotions were heightened. He couldn’t quite find his anchor. What had kept him calm all this time? He knew about having an anchor, but he didn’t have any idea who his own one was. It was like a massive, heavy, metal door was standing between him and the answer.
Maybe it was Yasmin, his best friend? Josh, his original alpha and brother? Caroline, the mum who raised him alone for the past six years? Perhaps it was Jono – the love of his life? Dylan wanted his memories back more than anything, because without them, he wasn’t himself.
He’d kept this from everyone over the past week, too. Perhaps it would subside and he’d make his way through?
“Hey,” he heard from behind him. Undoubtedly, that was the voice of Jono. Just the person Dylan needed. The mere tone of his voice felt soothing and relaxing, and Dylan felt his heart rate decreasing instantly. Jono came and sat next to him, his adorable, kind face making eye contact, “I’m sorry you had to find out like that. Kinda overwhelming, I know.”
“Everything makes so little sense to me,” Dylan admitted. He had spent the last ten minutes trying to piece things together in his mind, but it wasn’t coming together, “There’s so much evidence against him, but there is no way any killer would be this sloppy.”
“I’m glad you noticed too,” Jono admitted, “The evidence was too much for Ed, but everything feels too convenient. Noah’s not like that.”
“He’s being framed,” Dylan concluded, “Come on. We’ve got some detective work to do.”
He wasn’t going to give up until he was proved right. Dylan was more determined than ever.