LITMIR.BIZ

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brushed against her ear, dry and disgusting, and he whispered softly, “Why haven’t you shifted? I know you’re one of them. Shift. That’s all you have to do. Turn into a wolf for me and I’ll let you go.”

      “You’re crazy.” Xandi practically spat the words, then had to swallow quickly to keep from vomiting. His smell suffocated her, his breath found its way into her nostrils and she drew back and swallowed again.

      Quiet laughter echoed in the room. “Ah, no crazier than your friend. That little black girl’s hiding a secret that’s going to make me rich. No, I’m no crazier than your friend…or her mother. The bitch!”

      Did you hear him? Keisha, could your mother shift? Xandi turned and faced the direction of the man’s voice. “What’s her mother got to do with this? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      “Oh, yes you do. You know what your friend is like. She’s a tease, just like her mother. A monster. A wolf in human form. I think you are, too.”

      I don’t know if my mother could shift or not. I told you, she died when I was little, but I had to get my Chanku genes from one of my parents. She’s the most likely. Keep him talking. Get him to take the blindfold off if you can. The more I can see, the better my chance to get you out of there.

      Xandi raised her head and looked in the direction of Burns’s voice. “I don’t know anything about her mother. Keisha does not turn into a wolf. Are you nuts?” She shook her head and laughed. “Well, I guess that’s a given. Take this blindfold off of me. There’s no point in hiding. I know who you are, Mr. Burns.”

      Her head jerked back with the force of his backhanded slap. “Ah!” Xandi tasted blood, but at least he ripped the blindfold away.

      “You’re playing a dangerous game, bitch.” Burns stared down at her, his sallow face illuminated by the glow from a small flashlight clutched in his hand. “How come your friend hasn’t come to save you? I know you communicate. Is it telepathy? Do you read minds? Are you aliens? What the fuck are you?”

      Xandi ignored his questions. She took in all she could of her dark surroundings, hoping Keisha would grasp the images.

      Burns set the flashlight down on a small table and walked around Xandi, trailing one finger along her collarbone, over her shoulder, across her back. Her nipples puckered in the cold air and she prayed he wouldn’t touch them. She couldn’t stand the thought of this disgusting creature putting his hands on her.

      The narrow beam of light sent a crazed pattern against the wall, over his fleshy hand. Xandi shuddered, aware even as she struggled to hold still that Keisha fought the same battle within her mind.

      Xandi stiffened her spine as Burns slipped his fingers along her shoulder, then rudely flicked one nipple with his fingernail. He chuckled and did it once more. Xandi turned her head away, unable to watch her own violation.

      Frantic, she reached for Keisha. Where the hell are the police?

      I left a message and I have my cell phone with me. Maybe the detective isn’t taking my calls.

      Not the time for humor, m’dear. Xandi turned to follow Burns as he circled her, his hands now trailing over her arm. She had to keep him talking, keep his mind occupied. It was her only chance. “Why did you kidnap me? If you’re so convinced my friend is a wolf, why would you want me?”

      “You really want to know? Might as well tell you, since your friend is taking longer than I expected.”

      He squatted down in front of Xandi. His eyes were surprisingly clear, not the crazed look of a madman. Mere inches from her crotch, he stared directly into her eyes. Xandi found his calm demeanor unsettling.

      “Her mother was a wolf. Yeah, you look at me like I’m nuts, but I saw her shift. We went to high school together. I worked on the school paper. It was late, the school was almost empty, and I imagine she thought she was alone. I was in the journalism room, putting the paper to bed, when I saw her in the quad outside. Just standing there, sort of staring at the woods beyond the campus. I watched her…I used to watch her a lot. She was gorgeous, so sexy. But she was black, you know?”

      He stood up, paced back and forth, agitated. “I couldn’t date her. My old man would’ve had a fit. Nah, I didn’t want to date her, but damn, did I ever want to fuck her.”

      He looked off in the distance, as if remembering, then licked his lips. Xandi felt a shiver run down her spine.

      “She sort of shimmered, this cute little black girl. Damn, she was such a hot babe. She just…shimmered. Then there was a pile of clothes on the ground and a huge wolf standing over them. She turned and saw me. I’ll never forget that. I almost peed my pants. She snarled. Man, did that bitch have a mouthful of teeth! I slammed the window closed and locked the doors. When I looked back, she was gone, but I know she saw me.”

      Keisha? Did you hear him?

      Yeah. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

      “I watched her after that. Followed her for a long time without her knowing it. She got married. What a mistake. The guy was a gardener, a real loser, but eventually she had a baby. I kept waiting and watching, but I never saw her shift again…not until years later.”

      Did Keisha know any of this? Xandi watched Burns as he rocked back on his heels. Though he looked directly at Xandi, she sensed he was somewhere else. Somewhere in the past. Keisha’s presence was a roiling tension in her mind.

      “One night in Golden Gate Park I spotted a wolf.” Burns laughed. The sound scraped across Xandi’s already raw nerves. “Like wolves were a regular occurrence in the park? I don’t think so. I followed it. It loped along without a care in the world, but right at the edge of the park, right there near Fulton and Thirty-fourth, the wolf disappeared into the bushes. It looked back, like it was checking to make sure no one was watching, but I saw it. I went back and got my car. Figured I’d look farther down the road. Suddenly, a slim, black woman dressed all in dark clothes stepped out into the crosswalk. I hit her. Didn’t see her in time and I ran right over her.”

      Xandi felt Keisha’s gasp in her mind. She struggled not to react to her friend’s pain. Burns shook his head, rubbed his hand across his eyes. “Of course, I recognized her immediately. I was driving an old, beat up car already covered with dings, so one more didn’t make a difference. No one ever found out who killed her. I parked a block away and went back. I was already a reporter, so I had my camera. I waited in the bushes.”

      He looked at Xandi as if everything he said made sense, as if his actions had been perfectly acceptable. She held still, kept her face passive in spite of the growing nausea, the sense of evil filling the dark room.

      Burns shrugged his shoulders. “I thought she might turn back into the wolf when she died, but she didn’t. She just lay there in the center divider, her body all twisted and broken, caught up in the landscaping. She might have looked like a woman, but I knew better. I knew she was just an animal. Made me think of road kill. That’s all she was. Road kill. A dead wolf on the side of the road.”

      Burns turned around and walked away, disappearing into the shadows. His voice echoed out of the darkness. “Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. I knew she had a kid. Figured, like mother, like daughter, right? But I never could catch the little brat shifting. All those years…the pictures and story could have made my career.”

      Oh my God.

      Keisha’s agonized cry echoed in Xandi’s head. Keisha, it’s okay. He’s nuts. Totally nuts. Where are the police?

      I don’t know. He killed her. He killed my mother!

      Honey, hang in there. We’ll get him. Just hang in there.

      You’re the one tied up. I need to get you out of there, need to…

      No! Just wait. Please. Just wait. Frantic, Xandi tried to follow Burns’ movements in the shadows while she silently begged Keisha to stay out of sight.

      “I finally figured it out. Decided

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