Chapter 44

SAME ENEMY

CASSIE

Eric's bedroom was a typical boy's room. His walls were riddled with wallpapers of eye-catching sports scenes and cartoons. He had posters of rock stars and trendy celebrity couples. It almost seemed that a life-sized Kermit the Frog cuddled up with a miniature version of the topless woman. The green, plush background gave the illusion that she was naked.

His bed was unmade and unmade only because it was there. It was the stuff of childhood dreams. A large, fluffy pillow lay tucked beneath the covers, with smaller, fluffy pillows dotting the bottom corners. Eric flopped down on his bed. The vivid poster light bathed the room in harsh light. The poster light intensified the color of his comforter and the backdrop. He sighed.

"So, why are you here, Cassie?" Eric asked looking at me from under his long eyelashes. It was refreshing to see him this way for some reason. I always wondered what he looked like outside the facade of being with his clique, but here he was, a normal boy with normal likes and wants.

My mind drifted back to the main reason why I was here in the first place.

I had been able to establish the fact that Eric was resourceful, and I also need him to tell me all the answers I needed to know about Advania.

A pain in my head started out as a light headache swerving up the nerves of my brain in a fatal attempt to drive me wild, but I will handle the situation later. I needed to talk to Eric, we needed to devise a plan to get Armstrong to confess whom she was working for. I could go up to Armstrong myself, but if I let my muscles do the thinking for me, I might put the people around me into more trouble.

I needed to think logically for a bit which led me to the doors of Eric.

“You look pale,” Eric said, but I didn’t want to talk about my health now.

“I know you are not stupid, Eric. You know I am not, either. So, I’ll be straight with you.” I said. "What the hell are you and the Southern Pack planning? Why were you hell-bent on having me be part of the pack?" I asked.

My question gave Eric pause for a second, as he started to try and recall the recent events. "Yeah, you asked me that. The Southern pack, they are an independent family from the London pack. Their main allegiance is the council of the Advanian group. They tend to want to stick it to the council, for some reason. I don’t know.” I paused. “I guess you don’t care, though?” was his lame attempt at sarcasm. When he saw that I wasn't smiling, the smile in his eyes died, and he sniffed to regain his composure.

"Power," he said flatly with a shrug. "We want power, and we know you can give me that. The power to protect the people we care about." What I liked about Eric was how straightforward he could be.

I chuckled awkwardly. "And why the fuck do you think I have the power to give you? Are you wrong in the head?" I asked him, trying to weigh his response.

Eric shot to his feet quickly and leaned forward in such a way that his lips were only an inch away from mine. His charming smile came in full, and as he spoke, I could feel the heat of his words on my face.

"You are not stupid Cassie, so I will not play stupid with you." he leaned back and rounded me as if to mark his territory. "We both want the same thing. To get our rightful places back. As you know, to be an alpha male is not easy - and to be the leading pack is an even tougher job, but the power it will bring is so immeasurable. Imagine all the things we could achieve if we succeed and if all other sub-colonies of young blood are to bow down to us." He stopped in front of me again. "And we have a mutual enemy who is trying to taint our image, and make us look weak. But the enemy is strong, and the enemy has an army. With your powers, we could stop them."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I feigned ignorance.

Eric threw his head back and laughed. He shook his head and clucked his tongue. "For someone who is not stupid, you suck at acting ignorant.

"Of course, you know what the hell I am talking about. We know you are of Royal blood, you and your sister." His sinister smile came in full. "We know you both have powers. Don’t you think that is the reason we want to follow you?" he asked slowly. "Maybe, but maybe we want to follow you because we like you, you know. We like the look of you, Cassie." He looked into my eyes, and I scoffed.

"Tell me what you have planned, or I am outta here,” I demanded. The surprised look in his eyes told me that he didn’t think I'd react as chill as I did. He thought I'd be at least shocked, or try to act shocked, but being a Royal was not something we could hide forever. I wouldn’t even be surprised if people outside the circle know.

"How long have you known?" I wasn’t even trying to hide it again.

"The first night you attacked us without thinking. We had our doubts, buts seeing you the second time was all I needed to prove myself right. You have Royal markings, you'd be a fool not to know. You are the only one who can bring this business to an end."

The pain came in full force, and as I closed my eyes to the wrath, I knew I needed to leave for somewhere safe.

"You look pale," Eric said again, but as the night drew closer, I felt a rush of energy in my veins.

"I have a plan."

"That's a first." Said Eric. "You and rashness are two peas in a pod, you can only imagine how proud I feel, hearing that you for the first time, have a plan."

"Shut up," I said, and his smile came in full. "How do we get to be the best pack? What are the procedures?"

"Well, the elders are tight-lipped on the events we will engage in to test us. So, now, it's just a waiting game." But I can’t wait for long, not when danger lurks in the dark. "For now, what's your plan?"

"Armstrong. I need to know whom she works for."

"And how can you achieve that? She has strong backing amongst the elders. We'll need evidence to prove that she is breaking the treaty. If we can’t prove that, we'd be deemed a bunch of stupid hormonally imbalanced kids. Hope you get that?"

"I..."

"Don’t even think of using the IP address I gave you as proof. Anybody could have intercepted that and been the culprit. We need to be sure. We need to catch her red-handed. That kind of evidence won't even make it to the Advanian court. I hope you know."

Oh, yes I knew. I had other ideas.

"You said we have the same enemy..." I pressed.

"Yes," he pressed. "The River Valley Government who took our people and slaughtered them like pigs." The look in his eyes died. "In other words, your grandmother." His smirk came in full.

In all honesty, I wanted to kill my grandmother too.