Calix
I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Chance’s and Dexter’s lifestyles. Grief had done a number on both of them. They were both hoarding to feel safe, to insulate themselves. It wasn’t easy to let go of anything when you already felt robbed of everything. It didn’t matter how seemingly insignificant the objects in question were. What was trash to others was treasure to them. What was worthless to others was priceless to them. I felt so sorry for them both. They needed help.
Despite their similar coping mechanisms, their stories contradicted each other. Chance had been convinced that his daughter, Chalice, and her mate, Chase, were both dead, along with their model friend Deidre. Meanwhile, Dexter insisted that Chase was alive.
“What do you mean?!” Demanded Chance, clearly ruffled by the conflicting information.
Chasity’s Grandpa narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“I watched him buried. I found his body and Deidre’s and my own…m-m-my own…” Chance struggled to finish that sentence.
I couldn’t imagine how awful that must be, to outlive one’s child. I rubbed Chance’s shoulder while he blew his nose with a tissue. He dabbed his eyes.
“I know you found bodies that looked just like theirs,” continued Dexter apologetically.
Alex looked disturbed by that revelation. Felix furrowed his brow. I kept my expression neutral out of respect for Chance. I didn’t want Chasity’s Grandpa to think that we were abandoning ship and debunking what he had seen so soon. Alex was ready with the rapid-fire questions.
“What do you mean? Are you saying those bodies were planted there to be found? That those were not them? That they’re alive somewhere?” asked Alex, clearly unconvinced.
Dexter seemed unperturbed by our doubt as he began prattling off answers to Alex’s questions.
“I mean that magic can easily make one thing look like another,” said Dexter patiently. “Chance buried three bodies that greatly resembled Chalice, Chase and Deidre. Even perfect resemblances perhaps but was DNA done to ensure those bodies were who we thought they were?” Asked Dexter.
We were silent.
“Yes, I’m saying those bodies were planted there to be found by someone not necessarily Chance. Anyone who would publicise the alleged deaths,” reasoned Dexter. “No, those were not them. Yes, they’re alive somewhere. That is my belief,” added Dexter.
The alleged deaths were not highly publicised though due to the fact that my parents’ beliefs had widely discredited Chance. I felt a twinge of guilt. Mom and Dad had treated Chance like a raving lunatic. For whatever reason, they had never believed his story. Now Dexter’s story conflicted with Chance’s story. I felt like there had to be some truth to Chance’s story though. I looked at Alex, wondering who he believed.
Alex
I couldn’t decide whether Dexter was brilliant or bonkers. I was quiet as I thought it over, weighing the probability of such a plan. How would someone pull this off?
“Where are they then?” I asked, meaning Chase, Chalice and the real Deidre.
“That I can’t tell you but I can tell you that the Deidre Binx who became a supermodel is an imposter and the real Deidre Binx has to be alive somewhere for that type of dark magic to work!” Said Dexter, his voice barely a whisper.
“Explain how it works,” requested Calix, his eagerness apparent in his tone.
“I have it all documented…I…,” said Dexter.
He sank to his knees and began shuffling through a large stack of papers. I held back a sigh. Unless the documents included a literal video of someone staging the deaths I doubted it would make much of a difference.
“No, no, please, explain in words, paraphrase if you must,” said Felix, unwilling to waste anymore time here.
Dexter huffed, seemingly disappointed that we hadn’t chosen the scenic route of going through his documents.
“The rich and famous in werewolf country have bodysnatchers among them!” Said Dexter unabashedly.
Silence. Chance stopped weeping, possibly shocked by the absurdity of that statement. Danny had his eyes on a stack of DVDs in the corner. Felix’s face bore an impassive expression.Only Calix looked like he was willing to give the story a chance. Bless him.
“The bodysnatchers are immortal just like werewolves but they have limitations. They need fresh bodies every time the old body wears thin. They are like parasites and the bodies are hosts. They pick bodies that are desirable in someway, maybe the person is beautiful, important or they envy the lifestyle the person has already or what the person has the potential to have,” said Dexter.
The word ‘bodysnatchers’ conjured up images of large-headed aliens in my mind. I pictured Chasity’s beautiful face. She certainly had an enviable lifestyle. She was gorgeous and beloved by us, her three Alphas. She was also the rightful Winter Moon Luna though she had gone missing before officially taking up the post. A chill crept through me. If this theory was true, what was he implying?! That a fake Chasity would turn up to claim the position of Luna? Over my dead body. They would have to make a doppelgänger Alex to pull that off. This Alex was not serving any other Luna besides the original Chasity.
“They may fake the person’s death in one place and carry on their life with that body in another place or they may just carry on living in the same place as them seamlessly. The first step is scouting or vetting,” stated Dexter, “meaning they get information about what candidates are out there. The second step is selection. They pick the body they want and kidnap the person. The kidnapping is technically the third step, procurement. So after scouting, selection and procurement, they need to do step four. Preparation of the body for its host. The body must be empty spiritually speaking. They take the essence of the person out of the desired body and put it somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else?” Asked Calix.
“In an animal, a different empty body, a statue, a doll, preferably in an animal. The next step is transference, transferring the consciousness of the bodysnatcher into this new host body. The old host body might killed. The new body is now the bodysnatcher until the snatcher needs another body!” Explained Dexter confidently.
I wonder if the bodysnatchers had used their old bodies as decoys, disguising them as Chalice, Chase and Deidre for Chance to find. For some reason, I was starting to believe Dexter’s theory. Felix, on the other hand, seemed to think Dexter was delusional.
Felix
“Ok, thank you,” I said, trying to hide the impatience in my voice.
In my opinion, this seemed to be going nowhere fast. Baby Boy Calix, on the other hand, was eating it up.
“So Chalice and Chase and the real Deidre are in an animal or a doll or a statue or just re-trapped somewhere. It makes sense that Deidre’s body could be being used by someone with the real Deidre out of the way,” said Calix, seemingly fascinated by the concept.
Before Calix could hear the rest of Dexter’s twilight zone pitch, Alex and I pulled him away from the conspiracy theorist. Thankfully, we left shortly after that. Calix glared daggers at us later in the car. Even though I hated to admit it, it bothered me whenever my little brother was angry with me.
“Calix, Dexter was filling your head with conspiracy theories and whatnot,” I snapped in my own defence. “We didn’t come to write a paranormal gossip tabloid rag. We’re looking for Chasity!” I said indignantly.
“I know, so am I,” snapped Calix. “And I believe him. Chasity’s parents are alive somewhere and so is the real Deidre Binx. The only person we need to confront next is the fake Deidre Binx!”
I sighed. Calix really believed this bodysnatcher shit. Alex seemed to be on the fence about Dexter’s theory.
“Whether or not this bodysnatcher thing is true, we still need to confront Deidre so we will do that! But first, we need to visit A Fork in the Road cage-fighting club. They’re scheduled to have fights tonight, and I wanna see who’s there. Some of them may have something to do with Chasity or her parents,” reasoned Alex, bringing some logic back onto the scene to my utter relief.
Alex
We parted ways with Danny and Chance for the while as we needed to go home and change. The cage-fighting club was a nighttime only sort of place anyway. A Fork in the Road cage-fighting club was last on the list of Chalice and Chase’s old haunts.
What do you think A Fork in the Road will be like? Mumbled Calix on the way there.
Classy. Quiet. Valet parking, said Felix sarcastically.
We had all expected the crowd to be rough but we hadn’t expected a full house. The place was packed! Most of the patrons were werewolves but there were a few humans scattered about the crowd. I even spotted a few witches, wizards and vampires. There must be a really high profile fight tonight with this type of crowd. Everyone was cheering excitedly as they milled around the huge domed cylindrical cage.
I realised the crowd was divided with almost everyone dressed to indicate which of the two fighters they were supporting. Those wearing red were supporting someone called Dante the Destroyer and those in Icy Blue were fans of Blanche the Avalanche. There seemed to be some hostility between the two fan groups so I was glad no one from our group was happened to be wearing red or blue. That would help us float under the radar a little bit better. Being inconspicuous was no small feat for us. We were the Triplet Alphas. We courted attention even when we weren’t trying to so we had made a point to dress in neutral colours and to not dress identically. Felix was wearing a black tee shirt and black joggers, I was wearing a grey tee shirt with grey sweatpants and Calix was wearing a white tee shirt with white joggers.
I noticed the spectators were placing bets on who would win the match. I frowned, wondering if this place had a gambling license. I highly doubted that they did. I sighed. I would have to let that one go. I needed to focus on the task at hand. My eyes trailed over all the memorabilia from past matches adorning the walls. This place seemed like something Felix would be into. He had gone through a major mixed martial arts phase in our teens which had culminated in him begging Mom to let him cage-fight and in her saying no.
Felix
There were not many seats left though most people had elected to stand near the cage. I didn’t blame them. That was the best place to be, right in the midst of all the action, but I wasn’t here to be entertained.
A short blonde waitress brushed past us.
“Get us a booth,” I ordered her.
She instantly scowled in response to my tone but as soon as she turned to look at me, her face broke into a smile. She probably recognised me and my brothers.
“Right this way, Sir,” she said politely.
It was a little strange that she chose to call me Sir instead of Alpha. I realised she was human just like the bartender from the other place. She began fanning herself with a menu even though it was actually a bit chilly in here. We followed her to a column of booths in the back.
“Lacey, what are you doing?” Asked another waitress.
This one was brown-haired with a heart-shaped face. They were easily discernible from the rest of the crowd by their short pink uniforms and black aprons.
“What, Melissa?” Said the blonde who was Lacey apparently.
Lacey seemed very annoyed with her coworker, Melissa. There was probably a lot of competition for tables and tips.
“You can’t put them back there! These are the alphas,” I heard Melissa whisper.
I was surprised Lacey didn’t know who we were. Yeah she was human but she lived in Winter Moon. She ought to know who ran the place. Lacey gasped and did a double take.
“She’s human sorry,” said Melissa apologetically though that wasn’t a good excuse. “She had no idea.”
Melissa motioned for us to follow her instead of clueless Lacey. She led us to a VIP section which was on a raised platform. We walked up a short flight of steps to get to it. The dress code here was vastly different. All the VIP booths were occupied by high-stake gamblers in designer suits, busy popping bottles and trying to one-up each other. The smell of cologne was thick in the air. It was somewhat overpowering but it was preferable to the smell of sweat in the other section.
“Please, Alphas, choose where you would like in this section. I’m not sure if you wanna be up front or lowkey?” Wondered Melissa.
“Up front,” I said, my eyes on the cage.
I wanted a good vantage point.
“Lowkey,” said Calix, glaring at me.
“A comfortable medium would be nice, Melissa,” said Alex, trying to mediate.
We sat in a booth and Melissa asked if anyone else was joining us.
“Two more, Chance and Danny are their names,” said Alex, showing her a picture of them on his phone. “Please, very discreetly, find them and bring them to us as soon as they get here,” instructed Alex quietly, tipping her with a hundred dollar bill.
Melissa grinned widely. I could practically hear the cha ching resound in her head. She was seeing dollar signs.
“Yes, Alpha, thank you,” she said excitedly.
I remembered how my Baby didn’t like us talking to other girls much.
“Chasity would be so pissed if she were here,” I said sadly.
I’d do anything for her to be back with me. I missed everything about her so much even how she pouted when she was mad or jealous.
“About Alex talking to the waitress. It’s just business,” said Calix, being daft.
“Yeah but she gets jealous easily,” I said, smirking at the fond memory of her cute pouty face.
I had to get her back. I couldn’t live without her. I couldn’t even call this living. I was just…existing.
“If Chasity were here we wouldn’t be here,” muttered Alex pointedly with a heavy-hearted sigh.
Sighing was pretty contagious around here because the three of us sighed in unison in response to that comment. Yeah, we would definitely not be in a seedy place like this if Chasity were with us. We would be at home cuddled up with her or at some horror movie she had cajoled us into seeing. Melissa brought Chance and Danny to us.
“Thanks Melissa, you’re a real one,” said Calix, winking at her.
I glared at him. He knew he was not supposed to wink at random girls. He was out here acting like a little ho just because Chasity wasn’t here to call him out on it. I knew he meant nothing by it but it was still irksome. Melissa blushed and scurried off in a hurry until she realised she had to come right back because she hadn’t taken anyone’s orders yet and our full party was here. None of us were in a drinking mood but we ordered five beers for the while.
“What’s the point of being here when we need to be finding Deidre and questioning her?” Asked Calix, getting antsy.
“We said from the beginning that we needed to check out all three people and all three places Mom spoke about when she told us about Chalice and Chase,” said Alex, jogging Calix’s memory.
So far this place wasn’t exactly enlightening. There were no leads here. At least, the fight was starting. The announcer was about to introduce the fighters. The red fans waited on their competitor’s side of the cage whilst the blue fans waited on the other.
“Fighting tonight, in this corner, we have six foot six, hard as bricks, two hundred and forty pounds of not playing around, Blanch the Avalanche!!” Boomed the announcer, being cheesy as fuck with his rhymes.
The blue fans yelled and jumped up and down for their guy while the red ones jeered at him as he entered the cage.
Blanch, which I had thought was a girl’s name, was a platinum-haired male werewolf with very light blue eyes. His eyes looked almost white from where I sat. Blanch was also missing an eyebrow. I wasn’t sure if he had intentionally shaved it off or if he was shaky with his razor in the morning from one concussion too many. He was shirtless in blue shorts. He bared his canines and his blue-clad fans cheered. Hmph. These people were easily impressed. Who was the next chump? Werewolf fights didn’t have strict weight classes so the next person could look like anything. I had seen some pretty scrawny wolves take down some heavyweights. All wolves had super strength so technique was quite important.
“Fighting tonight, in the other corner, we have two hundred and twenty pounds of lean, mean, fighting machine. At six foot four, let’s get him out on the floor it’s Dante the Destroyer!!” Thundered the announcer theatrically.
I snorted with laughter. I couldn’t get over these cheesy ass lines. The red fans were rejoicing while Dante, clad only in red shorts, entered the cage to face Blanch. Time froze. My nose twitched. It was faint but it was unmistakable. I got up and descended the VIP stairs making my way through the crowd. A path cleared for me easily as the fellow wolves could pick up on my Alpha’s Aura. It wouldn’t be a good idea for any of them to get in my way right now. The closer I got, the more convinced I became. When I reached the cage, I was stone-cold certain. That was her scent. Chasity’s beautiful perfect scent. Roses and honey. My mate’s scent on Dante’s filthy skin. What. The. Fuck. I had never been more enraged in my entire life. I was shaking. What was her scent doing on him? Was he the kidnapper? Had he touched my mate?! I would rip his hands off for touching her. I would tear his eyes out for looking at her. I would take his life for taking her from me. I let out a roar that silenced the onlookers and the announcer. This would be Dante's last fight but Blanch would not be his opponent!