CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON

“He would not attack your families after all the help you have given him. I don’t think he would go after you kind either.” Kayla took a step towards Xavier.

“Scarlet let me in her head to sift through what she knew about Stephan, and he told her the female beast who participated is dead.”

“I guess that’s good news,” Xavier murmured. “But we still need to find him.”

Kayla stepped away to answer her phone. It wasn’t a number she recognized but assumed it was Scarlet. “Hello?”

“Is this Kayla Cooper, you are listed as the next of kin for Scarlet Mc Kyle.”

“Yes, who is this, and what happened to Scar?” Kayla knew something was wrong. They only called the next of kin when something bad happened. Furthermore, the tone of the man who called her was unsettling.

“This is Archie Sinclair, I went to high school with Scarlet and now we work together.”

“Uh-Huh?” Although she had asked him to identify himself, Kayla didn’t have the patience to listen to what he was saying.

“Scarlet has been acting strange lately and now she has barricaded herself in her apartment. I was wondering whether you could come to Washington and find out what’s going on with her.”

Kayla had suspected that something was wrong when Scarlet had called her earlier that week. There was something in her voice that had set off the alarms inside her and that was topped off by how she didn’t know which day it was.

“She has been having panic attacks and abdominal pains, she disappeared for two days. Plus today she just ran out of the hospital.” He hoped that she could see the seriousness in the situation.

Kayla was worried, she had to get there as soon as she could.

“Could you go back and check on her, then give me a call. I will try and call her from my end before coming there.” Kayla wasn’t sure who she was sending to her friend’s front door, “Archie, can I trust you to do this.”

“Yes, you can.”

The line went dead after he made his promise.

Kayla turned back to the rest who were all staring at her. She knew the questions they were asking and didn’t wait for them to sound them out.

“Scarlet has been M.I.A from work. His co-worker says she has been acting strange, running out of the hospital, and having panic attacks. He says that she has been having abdominal pains.”

Kayla looked to Xavier to shed some light. She assumed that he was bound to know one or two things about beast pregnancies.

Xavier answered her question by digging into his pocket and calling Nikki.

“Get to the house now, come with a few things you are taking a trip.”

“Kayla?” Vincent was at her side, worried, “Are she and the baby going to be fine?”

“Baby?” Mathias looked at Kayla and Vincent, “What baby.”

She didn’t think it was a secret anymore, everyone apart from Stephan knew. He would also find out as soon as they contacted him. She realized it was a bad idea to keep it a secret in the first place.

“Scarlet and Stephan are going to have a baby.” She answered in a cool voice.

“That is not good for either one of them.” Mathias stepped closer to them. “Stephan is already a threat to them. They plan to kill him if he doesn’t fall back to them. If they realize that he can sire children, he and his children will be seen as a bigger threat.”

He stepped closer to Kayla leaning down to meet her eyes, “They will kill her and the baby if they discover this.”

Kayla turned and ran to her room. A few seconds later she came down with a duffle bag and dropped it on the table. She got her phone out and dialed a number from a scrap of paper.

“Who are you calling?” Xavier asked as he watched Solara the same thing Kyla had just done.

“The airport and if Nikki isn’t here in the next ten minutes, Solara and I are leaving.”

“I want to come.” Vincent stood in her path as she paced around the room.

“No. You and your brother need to find Stephan and you need to do it fast.”

“Eric and I will come with you, Sam can join us later. In the event we have to wrestle him down you will need the numbers.” Xavier put in.

“I have to go back to my coven. I will call you if I have any more news.” Mathias left, his black coat fluttered behind him as he moved like the wind.

“Xavier, she has eight minutes to get down here.”

Solara took the phone from Kayla, she wasn’t making any headway with the ticketing office. The mood she was in didn’t help at all especially since, she had resorted to threatening the salesperson when she told them the next flight was fully booked.

“Cool it, I’m here and I’m packed. Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Nikki stood at the door with a bag in her hand.

“In two sentences, Stephan has turned into a murdering psychopath and Scarlet is having problems with the baby.” Vincent summed it up for her as he, his brother, Xavier, and Eric prepared to leave.

“I got a flight that leaves at midnight. That was the best they could do honey.” Solara looked at Kayla whose hands had balled up into a fist. “She also said that she won’t press any charges against you.”

Kayla’s eyebrow rose at his last statement. “She is lucky I have other things to worry about. We have two hours before the plane leaves. Let’s go I’ll try and call Scarlet on the way.”

She walked past Nikki and headed for the car. Vincent was by her side and his brother followed closely behind.

“Be careful boys.” She had resorted to calling them boys when she spoke to them. Most of the time she could tell who was who. “When you find him call me, and I will explain it to him.”

She watched as the four of them disappeared into the darkness. Eric and Xavier had left their shirts behind and ran only in baggy nylon shorts.

When Nikki and Solara got into the car they sped to the airport. Kayla silently praying that Scarlet was alright. Solara put his hand on hers, he could hear everything she was asking for and hoped that they would come to pass.