“She has not been eating. All the food I brought her, I returned them untouched. This is the fifth plate I have brought for her now and she hasn’t touched it since,” Dutch complained, pointing to the untouched plate on the table. “She’s been looking like a dummy all day,”
Dvorak regarded the table for a long moment. Then he brought out a key card and touched it to the surface of the cell scanner. The door swung open. Dvorak entered the cell and turned to Dutch.
“Go stay in the house. I’ll join you shortly,”
Dutch nodded and went away. Dvorak turned to look at Selena who was watching him closely, a numb expression on her face.
“Dutch told me you’ve not been eating. What happened? Don’t you like the food?” He said in a flat voice.
Selena shook her head, looking at him strangely.
“What did he do to you?” There was irritation in her voice. “What did he offer you that made him get you around his little finger?”
Dvorak regarded her, thinking she was going crazy or something, then understanding crept up his face.
“Oh? You mean how did I come about working for Caesar?” When Selena nodded, he went on. “Well, I can’t really go into all that. But I’ll leave you in on something. Something some of you find too hard to believe. Caesar is a good man. He’s a rare man, that one. A blessing to this town, I must say. Only folks who are selfish and bad would hate him.” There was pride in his voice.
“You must be out of your mind to think Caesar has a good man,” her voice took a lower tone. “You used to be one of the good men. In this town. A good husband, good businessman, what the hell happened?”
Dvorak’s face turned red, then white.
“Don’t ask me any questions. Don’t even go there!” He said harshly. “My whole life ended when that werewolf in Devils Wept killed my family.” There were lines of anger on his face now.
“I’m sorry about your family,” Selena said, looking genuinely concerned.
“Don’t be! I don’t need any pity!” He spat right back at her. “I’ve been through hell ever since their death but I survived. So don’t go asking me stupid questions and telling me what you think of me,” he turned to look at the food on the table. “I don’t want Caesar to think we are not taking good care of you. You need to eat,” he picked a plate filled with stacks, chicken and peas and brought it to her. “Take! This is still fresh and warm. Go on, eat it” and he thrust the plate to her.
The smell of the food hits Selena’s nostrils. A retch tightened her inside. She felt her inside coming up into her throat and she vomited. Dvorak stepped back hastily, but some of the vomits splattered on his boots.
“For fuck sakes, get a grip on yourself,” he barked, looking at her closely. Her face was white and drawn. Her eyes had become sunken. There were lines of fatigue on her face. She looked sick. He stiffened as a wild thought dropped into his mind. In the past, he had seen these weird patterns from his wife before.
“Have you seen your period this month?” He finally asked her.
She lifted her head slowly to look at him.
“What’s it to you?”She mumbled. “You are not a woman and you don’t have a business with what goes on in a woman's body,”
“Save your sharp mouth for someone else and give me an answer, damn it! “ Dvorak seethed out.
“I’m not telling you anything,” she said listlessly. “Talking to you makes me tired and I’m having a serious headache. Just…..leave me alone,”
Dvorak glowered at her. Then he drew in a long, slow breath and went out of the cell. He went into the mansion and found Dutch in the living room.
“That girl is pregnant!” He exploded.
“What?” Dutch gasped.
“I'm a hundred percent sure she is,” Dvorak continued. “That girl is pregnant and she doesn’t even know it,”
“But how? How the hell did you know?”
“Experience, Dutch! Experience” Dvorak offered. “I was once a married man, Dutch. I know these things,” he paused and went on. “You know what, I want you to go into town and get me these things.” He took out a pen and paper notes from his pocket and hastily scribbled something on the paper. “Go to any of the pharmacy stores and charge the expense to Caesar ’s name. Hurry and be fast,”
Dutch took the note and went away. While he was gone, Dvorak busied himself with going through the house. Just a normal routine check. He checked Marianna in her room, saw she was sleeping and closed the door.
He checked the kitchen, and the rest of the rooms except Caesar ’s bedroom. Even though he was curious to see what the wolf girl looked like, the hatred he had for werewolves did not let the thought of entering that room enter his head.
By the time he was done, Dutch had returned. He collected the pharmaceutical bag from Dutch and looked through it. Everything he had requested was there.
He hurried back to the cell.
He met Selena lying down on the bed when he came in. Her eyes were closed. He went over to the bed and touched her lightly on her shoulder. She opened her eyes, and again, he noticed the heavy, dull look in her eyes. She dragged herself to a sitting position.
“I bought some things for you,” he took out a pill pack from the bag and gave it to her. “Take two of this for now. Take another two in the night. The headache will go away.“
Selena looked at him, doubt and distrust in her eyes. But something about the expression on his face told her he meant no harm. She took the pills pack “Thanks,” she said and she meant it.
He gave her a bottle of water from the table and she took it from him, took the drugs and washed it down with the water. Then he brought out a digital pregnancy checker tube and gave it to her. She eyes it strangely.
“What’s this?”
Dvorak smiled magnanimously, giving her the look you would give a child. Ofcourse! She was a simple, naive town girl who had just been introduced into the sexual world of womanhood. There’s no way for her to know what a pregnancy strip was.
“It’s something to tell us what is really wrong with you,” he said.
“But……I didn’t tell you something is wrong with me.” She protested in a little voice. “Moreover, I’m feeling better now. I guess the pills are working. All I need is rest,”
“I know and believe me, I understand,” Dvorak said in a faking, a soothing voice. “But just use this will you? Let me tell you something. When you’ve got a fever, and you go see a doctor, he gives you a thermometer, to know how hot your body is right? This is just something like a thermometer, even better. I have a feeling you haven’t been feeling well for sometime now. I can tell. It’s written all over you. This right here will actually let us know what the problem is and the cure for it,” Christ! He thought. How easy it was to lie to this poor, simple town girl.
Selena hesitated for some moment, thinking. There was something this man was not telling her. She had a feeling he was deliberately hiding something from her but the fatigue washing over her, made her groggy and she couldn’t think well. Infact, on a normal day, she would have seen the hidden maliciousness behind Dvorak’s eyes. After some time, she took the strip from him.
“How will I use this?”
Dvorak grinned and gladly, and went on to explain to her how she was going to use it.
“I’ll come for it very early tomorrow morning. Also, what do you crave for right now? Do you want some noodles, chopped beef, with hot sauce and some cold cranberry juice?”
Selena thought about it and her mouth watered. She felt famished.
“Yes, that would be nice,” She said excitedly.
“I’ll get for you right away,” Dvorak said, getting to his feet. He noticed the vomits on the floor which had started to give an awful smell. “I’ll send Dutch to clean this off. You can go and rest now” and he gave a long, probing look and went out of the cell.
******************
Heavy black clouds blotted out the moon. There was a hint of rain in the wind, and it had turned cold. At exactly past nine, Victor arrived at the gate house of the Blood River pack. He hadn’t even touched the bell before he heard the savage, spine-chilling howls of wolves.
A big man, dressed in terrible, black sweaters, black jeans and boots came out of the house and walked briskly to the gate. His face was hidden by the hood of the sweaters which he had pulled over his face. He got to the gate, looked through the wrought iron bars and snarled when he saw Victor .
“You must have shit for brains, Victor. What the hell are you doing here fool?” Helldog told you to stay off these parts.”
Victor smirked. He knew that voice.
“How are you doing, Razor? Tell Helldog I’m here for something important. Something only for his ears”
“What if he’s not interested in your story?” Razor fired back.
“Then I’ll leave,” Victor said evenly.
Razor stood there for some moment, then he went away. Five minutes later, he returned.
“You lucky son of a bitch! He says I should let you in,” Razor said as he unlocked the gate. The huge gate swung open.
Victor stepped in. His eyes rove around, quickly taking in the quiet, vast surroundings and the glowing eyes of the wolves, circling around threatening, blending with the darkness as they advanced cautiously towards them. Razor locked the gate and turned to him. The two men stood facing each other. Victor was a little inch taller, while Razor was broader. Razor offered his big hand. They both shook hands.
“Welcome brother,” Razor grunted.
“Thanks, man. How’s he?”
Razor shrugged his powerful shoulders.
“He’s been in a bad mood since he became an Alpha. Feisty as hell,”
The note of irritation in Razor's voice touched Victor where he stood.
“What the hell is wrong with him?”
Victor heaved heavily and clapped Victor on his broad back.
“Come with me, brother. Don’t let’s keep the Alpha waiting,” the jeer in his voice was not lost on Victor.
As they walked towards the house, the howl of the wolves increased, and menacingly, they padded towards them with heavy gracefulness.
“Behave! I’m one of you guys,” Victor shouted at them, and he let out a fierce, low howl. The wolves became silent at once, the threats went out of their eyes and they all scurried away. Victor grinned wolfishly. As they walked up the main house door, Razor whispered in Victor’s eyes.
“He doesn’t talk about it, but we all know it’s eating him up,” he said in a low voice. “Safiya ran away a day to her becoming his bride,”
Victor 's eyes widened with shock.
“The hell?”
“He’s gotten more meaner since she ran off. He's been scouring the woods for her since.” Razor continued.
“Oh, poor guy,” Victor said solemnly.
“I think I know where she is,” there was a twinkling merriment in Razor eyes.
“You do?” Victor said interestedly.
Razor smirked.
“Yeah, I think so. It’s a long shot though but it might pan out. You just don’t worry about it, brother. I’ll handle it,”
Victor nodded. There was something weird about Razor but he couldn’t put his hand to it at that moment. He was still contemplating his strange feelings about Razor as they both entered the house.
Razor led Victor into the conference room where Jack Axgorn had first talked to him when he was alive. Victor sank into the rollie chair offered to him.
“Who’s the lieutenant?” He asked.
“A mean looking guy named Morrigan. He’s from the wolf pack in Devils Wept. A close friend of the Alpha. The Alpha offered him the position of lieutenant and Morrigan came running down here. He’s a tough guy, that one,”
Victor inclined his head and said “Tough guys don’t bother me,”
Razor bared his teeth in a snarling grin.
“Still tough huh?” He said, and before Victor could reply to him, he slid out of the office.
Victor waited for another ten minutes before the door opened and Helldog walked in.