LIGHTNOVELONLINE 23. How To Catch A Wolf
New years day was nice and quiet.
Me and my parents kind of had a tradition, we all stayed in pyjamas or nightgowns for the whole day and the three of us sat together on the sofa and watched old movies on TV. Mum made waffles and bacon for brunch around noon, and we had left-over pizza from the night before for dinner.
I did break the tradition a tiny bit though, me and Kaylee exchanged some texts and I spent like an hour talking to her on the phone in the afternoon. But my folks didn't mind, they thought it was cute or something.
Things were back to normal again on Saturday. Or, normal for someone in a supernatural witch club anyways. There were some group texts, and by one in the afternoon I found myself in the back seat of Brooke's car with Kaylee and Marissa. Paige was in the passenger seat, and we pulled into the parking lot of that big box plaza on the south side of town.
"By the way," Marissa commented in a casual tone as Brooke found a parking spot. "We can rule out that house across from the Potts' farm."
With the car parked, both Paige and Brooke turned to frown at the young witch. The taller blonde asked in a wary tone "How exactly do you know that? What have you been up to Marissa?"
The young blonde shrugged, "After I left Paige's place on Thursday I went up and staked-out that house for a while. No sign of wolfie, but you'll never believe who I did see there."
"You walked there all the way from Paige's house?!" Kaylee exclaimed. "That's like five kilometres or something? Then what, you stood there in the cold? For how long?"
"Pfft of course not," Marissa rolled her eyes. "I walked home from Paige's place, then I borrowed my dad's car and drove there. I parked on the side of the road and kept the heater on while I watched."
Brooke sighed, "I didn't think you had your license yet."
Marissa shrugged, "I don't. Doesn't mean I don't know how to drive."
The club leader facepalmed, "Marissa... So you stole a car and drove without a license, to stake out an unknown supernatural's home? If May finds out she's going to kill you."
The bold young witch rolled her eyes again, "Whatever. You're all missing the point! Remember what Paige said the other day, that house was bought back in the summer? Someone new came to town. And thanks to Mrs. Reeves' map we know the new resident is some kind of supernatural? Well I know who it is."
"Who is it?" I asked, since I could tell she was dying for somebody to spring the question.
Marissa announced with a wide grin, "None other than our new History teacher, the evil Ms. Hughes!"
Kaylee groaned, "She's not evil Marissa! Ms. Hughes is nice, she's a good teacher, and the only reason you don't like her is she's strict about attendance!"
Brooke agreed, "Seriously Marissa, you're going to get yourself in deep trouble one of these days. We're going to have a talk about this later. For now, let's focus on our werewolf ok?"
Kaylee agreed, "So why are we back here again?"
"I was thinking about how we ran into her at the cafe," Brooke explained. "And it occurred to me maybe she works around here? A lot of teens our age get their first job in retail, or at a fast food place right? What if she was picking up a coffee before her shift? Or on her break? Yesterday was a holiday but now it's Saturday and the place is obviously busy. Maybe she's working today, maybe she's in one of these businesses. We just have to look around and find her."
Paige asked, "Then what? She'll just bolt again, and she's a lot faster than any of us."
Our club leader nodded, "Right. So we have to do this smart. We split up and look for her, but if anyone sees her don't approach. Text the rest of us, and we'll try and get her surrounded? Like say she's in one of those little shops, get a couple people at the back exit then come in the front door."
Kaylee pointed out, "She might not be able to run for it if she's working. Depends how much she wants to keep her job, basically."
"She doesn't have to see us to know we're around," I reminded the others. "She knows my scent, I don't know if she knows the rest of you. And um..."
I hesitated slightly before suggesting "If we do see her, try and be nice? Like don't shout and run at her? Don't scare her off? She seemed nervous and awkward when she talked to me the other night."
Brooke agreed, "Good point Cass. We're not treating her like a threat anymore. I don't think she's a danger to people, but she's been putting herself at risk. She needs our help."
"Me and Brooke will take stores along the east," Paige said.
Kaylee offered, "Cass and I can take the row along the west, and those two on the south."
"Then I guess I'll take the cafe and the Thai place in the middle," Marissa said. "Plus the grocery store at the north."
With that agreed, all five of us finally emerged from Brooke's car. And instead of leaving her gigantic hat on the seat like she did the other day, Marissa took it with her and put it on.
There were some groans and comments from both Brooke and Paige, but the young witch refused to take it off. And with that, the five of us got started.
Marissa headed to the cafe first, while the rest of us went to the south-east end of the lot before splitting up. Paige and Brooke started slowly making their way north along the row of shops and businesses on the east side, while me and Kaylee headed west.
We were both quiet as we peered in the windows of the first business. It was a fitness place, and we could see a couple dozen people inside. Most were customers, working out on various machines and stuff. Like there were stationary bikes, treadmills, all that stuff on one side. And on the other side were different weight-training machines.
"I doubt she'd be working in there," Kaylee commented. "She wouldn't be a customer either. I think she'd want to avoid gyms and fitness places, because of her supernatural advantages?"
I nodded quietly and we moved on.
The next place was a restaurant, and we went inside then did a quick walk around. There was no sign of Melanie there either. Though if she was working in the kitchen we wouldn't see her, while she'd probably pick up my scent.
After the restaurant we started making our way north along the small strip of shops on the west side of the parking lot. They were mostly fast-food places, like there was a pizza place, a sub shop, and a pita restaurant. We didn't have to go in any of them though, we had a good enough view through the windows to know the wolfgirl wasn't there.
We were almost at the end of our row when both our phones buzzed with a group text alert. Me and Kaylee fished our phones out to check, and I found myself looking at a picture Marissa had sent to everyone.
A bored-looking Melanie was standing behind the register of checkout number four at the grocery store. She was wearing a green vest with the company logo, and a name tag that wasn't quite legible in the photo. But it was obviously her.
Before either me or Kaylee could respond a text came through from Brooke.
'Marissa stay out of sight in the store but keep an eye on her. Kaylee & Cass head for the doors on the west side, me & Paige will take the doors on the east.'
A moment later Brooke sent a second text, 'Cass & Kaylee stay outside the doors till you get the signal.'
I sighed and texted back that we were on our way, while Kaylee asked me "Why the sigh Cass? You don't think we'll be able to catch her?"
"It's not that," I replied quietly. "I'm just worried about scaring her or spooking her."
She gave me a funny look, and her voice sounded a bit wary as she asked "You're not into her are you? Tuesday night she tackled you and had her teeth at your throat Cass. She could have killed you or turned you."
I blushed and shook my head and insisted, "I'm not into her! And that stuff Tuesday night was an accident Kaylee, she wasn't trying to hurt me. It's just..."
After another sigh I explained, "She's got a huge secret she's dealing with, and the five of us keep turning up and chasing her. She's probably scared we're going to out her or something? And as far as we know she's not going to any of the local schools, so maybe she's all alone? And I know what it's like to be lonely and different and all that stuff. I'm worried if we corner her she'll freak out."
By that point we were in position, standing just outside the doors on the left side of the grocery store. It was fairly busy, with a steady stream of people coming and going. That worried me too, like if anything weird happened a whole lot of people were bound to see it. Plus there were probably security cameras and stuff inside the store.
Kaylee looked at me for a few moments, then she sighed as well. She started tapping out a text to the group as she said softly, "You're a really good person Cass."
A moment later her text came up on my phone, 'Cass says to be gentle and try not to scare her. She might panic if we corner her or she feels threatened.'
I could see Brooke and Paige outside the other doors, and they both looked at their phones and read Kaylee's text.
'Understood,' Brooke texted back. 'Be friendly girls, we want to help her not chase her away.'
Then Paige went inside and picked up a basket as if she was going shopping, while the rest of us waited.
Two or three minutes later Paige texted, 'Ready.'
Brooke responded with another text, 'Marissa get in wolfgirls checkout line to buy something. Kaylee, Cass, wait a minute then come inside & slowly approach her.'
The club leader went in next, then a minute later me and Kaylee entered the grocery store too.
My heart was racing as I glanced around. Marissa was in line with her ridiculous hat on. Between that and her skirt, boots, and black jacket she really stood out, and plenty of people were giving her funny looks. She didn't seem to care though. Maybe she was even enjoying the attention.
Meanwhile Paige had manoeuvred herself into position next to register three, blocking the escape incase Melanie tried to get deeper into the store. Brooke was standing about six or seven meters from our target on the far side, while me and Kaylee slowly approached from our side.
As we got to within seven or eight meters I saw the girl giving Marissa a funny look, like she was staring at the huge witch-hat but maybe didn't recognize the short blonde who was wearing it.
Then her head tilted slightly before she turned and her eyes locked on mine. She looked shocked and scared while I tried to appear friendly as I waved.
The girl spun around to check the other exit, and found Brooke standing there. She turned again and realized Paige was in the next aisle blocking that path.
I felt bad as she turned around twice more, it was obvious she was trying to figure out how to escape. And I was scared she might do something that couldn't be covered up. Like changing to a wolf, or even just doing something obviously supernatural.
She looked my away again, and I called to her "Please, we just want to help!"
Melanie stared at me for another second or two, then her shoulders slumped in defeat.
At least a dozen other people around saw and heard all that, but apart from some more weird looks nobody said anything or tried to get involved.
Me and Kaylee and Brooke all sort of converged on where Melanie was standing by her cash register. Marissa was in front of her, holding a box of strawberry pocky and a five dollar bill. And Paige stayed in the third checkout for now, to keep that exit blocked.
Once the five of us were all up close, Melanie asked in a dull monotone voice "So what now? You've caught me, what will you do with me? Take me to some hospital? Research lab? Or jail cell."
Brooke shook her head, "I was thinking we could go to the cafe? We owe you a latte from the other day."
I added quietly, "My name's Cass. Short for Cassandra. Maybe we can be friends? We want to help you."
She gave me a funny look, then shrugged and pointed at her name tag, "Melanie. Why would you want to be friends with me?"
Marissa stated bluntly, "We're just generally nice people ok? So you wanna get a coffee with us or not?"
Melanie turned to look at the young witch again, then asked "Ok seriously what the heck is with that hat, and the rest of the get-up? You look like you're cosplaying Marisa Kirisame or something."
For a moment I could swear Marissa's eyes turned into little hearts, from the look she gave Melanie.
"You know who she is?" she half gasped. "Nobody around here knows who she is!"
Melanie and Marissa stared at each other for a few more seconds. The wolfgirl looked sort of confused and wary, while Marissa looked like she was barely containing her excitement. Honestly it was like the young blonde had completely forgot all about the werewolf business, now that she'd found someone who knew about her Touhou stuff.
"Ok fine," the wolfgirl finally sighed. "I get a forty-five minute lunch break in fifteen minutes. I'll come have coffee with you people and find out what you want. But now I gotta get back to work ok?"
"Deal!" Marissa said with a big grin. Then she held out the box of pocky and her money and added, "I still wanna buy this while I'm here."
