The elevator ride up to the fifteenth floor felt longer than usual. So did the line for food, even though there were only a few people in front of .
Seed like it took an hour for the food to arrive. I felt impatient and almost left to go to a different place despite ordering and paying for so much.
Even when I finished it all, I maintained a thread of uncomfortableness inside. I thought about that as I watched a number increase painstakingly to 11.
Maybe it was the weight of the day’s whole event settling on . Or maybe it was the strange hollow feeling from all those failed attempts to reach out to Kyrie. Every ti I think of that, though, that particular ’cavern’ feels like it grows deeper and darker.
> Inviting in, to get lost in. As if trudging into it would lead to an exit on the other side. But there is never any light gained when I do. Only light lost. <
No matter what was going on in imaginary places I didn’t want to think about, I was admittedly looking forward to collapsing into my own space. The apartnt here had now been my longest stay in any one location in this world.
I was at least considering it - if not sothing as deep as ’ho’ - sothing equal to my quarters in the palace... which is as good as saying the sa thing. Without maybe feeling as strongly about a place as others might.
"Funny, it was easy to think the temporary motel was cozy when I started bringing found items there than it is a place I have more legal length of access to."
Not really chuckling despite claiming it was amusing, I reached for my phone to unlock the door. But holding it near the sensor pad with the access scan on screen... nothing.
The little light stayed red, unresponsive. Flipping the bright screen around and making sure it showed things right, I tried again, positioning it differently. Wobbling it around, looking to get it to at least make the denied beep - but still nothing.
Frowning, I poke at it and the whole door swung open easily. My stomach dropped as I stared at the lock chanism itself, damaged tal hanging loose, clearly broken.
Sothing strong had twisted it. The hallway around was empty and quiet. There were no obvious slls to say who it was... but soone had been here. Soone had broken into my apartnt.
> Vrika. <
Muscles bulging almost a little too far, with tiny black hairs bristling... I took a careful step inside to get a better sniff, every sense on high alert. The air felt... not like I expected.
Still no werewolf scent at all, which was almost more unsettling than if there had been one. Because humans didn’t typically break locks like that, there should have been tool marks sowhere or... I don’t know.
> Just not like *that*. Yes, it reminds of when I bent the thing in the forest. Yes, this is a fine enough ti to bring it up. No, that does not contradict telling you not to bring it up again! <
Rogues with scent blockers? Just because they are expensive and regulated does not an they may not be available on a black market. Nineteen hells, even I had so - stolen from that hunter’s cache.
Stepping back out and out of direct line of sight, my tense fingers found my phone again. Composing a ssage as quickly as I could while not keeping my eyes too long away from the open doorway.
C: [May need help soon. Sothing wrong at apartnt.]
I hit send to Claire, trying to get her ready to panic but not quite panic yet. Then smacked the sounds down to silent... so if she responded back it wouldn’t give away.
> I’ve had a paid ’lookout’ speak too loudly before, so I’m really wary of anything that can make noise when I’m trying to be stealthy. But if this goes badly, at least soone would know to look for quicker than ’when she doesn’t call tomorrow’. <
Explaining myself to my wolf quickly, I try to steady my breath while making my way inside to see the damage... or spring the trap. The living area looked normal at first glance, but as I crept further inside, certain details began to stand out.
One of my water bottles now sat empty on the kitchen counter. Since when did thieves stop to hydrate from your stock and then leave their trash behind in a polite way? I an, it’s not in the recycle bin, but it’s not just thrown into the wall...
Nothing seems missing from the living room. All of my new tech setup is there. Furniture is there. More proof that whatever this is, it isn’t about my belongings.
> But it may be about . <
Almost as soon as I had the thought, a soft thud sounded from the direction of my bedroom that made freeze in place. My senses honed in as I focused... and I notice the sound of running water?
Then a familiar thunk in the apartnt piping. Like when my shower turns off, though I’ve never heard it from this far away. More and more I have no idea what is going on.
> Is the intruder just testing all of the sources of my water? First the bottle, then... <
My heart hamred strongly as my mind dove in strange directions. I stepped slowly toward the bedroom, staying close to the wall and away from the beam of light that slid out from the door sat just a sliver ajar.
Each step felt too loud despite trying to stay on the cushioned runner rug. When finally I was close enough to get an angle on looking through the gap, I first saw sothing on the floor that didn’t belong.
A suitcase. Expensive-looking. With clothes spilled out of it. Like soone had been searching through it hastily... and it was extrely... white.
Still peering through that crack when the bathroom door opened, I watched soone in a dark-wine colored robe erge. But they weren’t walking. They were crawling on hands and knees.
> Like they are exhausted... or- <
Black fur burst out of when they raised their head and sniffed. Because the matching dark towel wrapped around their head hid white hair that peeked out. And brown eyes that looked confused danced around toward the doorway.
"Citra?"
How pale she was, far more than normal. How rough her voice was. She was obviously weak with sothing wrong with her... to the point I almost couldn’t believe and trust it was really her as I stood outside my door, in my hybrid form.
"Citra. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here, but I..."
She swayed as she tried to turn her body on the floor, as if her arm wanted to give out. And I was moving before I could think that I shouldn’t. Across the room and down beside her to steady her shoulders.
Ignoring the cracking sound that was probably screws being torn from the hinges holding the door, my hands were human again only seconds later. But my eyes remained glowing impatiently blue, while looking into hers that didn’t even flicker.
"What happened?"
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