Teethmarks and Wolf Pelts

The meeting at Tristan's began and ended within ten minutes. There wasn't much said- the three of us were introduced to the Phoenix pack, then a little bit of explanation on our part of our current situations, and then Tristan split us into groups of two or three so we could search the city at a faster rate. Surprisingly, Tristan split our little group up, teaming me with Bree and Trisha. Elijah was paired with Lance and the Alpha himself and Felix ended up being teamed with two werewolves I didn't know. When we were all clear on our designated searching areas, we exited the apartment and began our search.

Trisha leads Bree and I to her car, conveniently parked in the back lot of the apartment complex. It's a sleek white car, though I could never tell you the model, and seems brand new. Bree casually gets in the passenger seat. Trisha opens the driver side door but stops when she sees me marveling at her car. "You like it?"

"Yeah! It's a nice car," I blush.

"I'm a car saleswoman," she says. "I supply two natured with cars when they need -for very affordable prices, of course- and as a pay off for all my good work, the head two natured of the company gave me this as a gift."

"So you just get a good job, one where you can help two natured, and you get free stuff?" I ask. Trisha nods slowly with a slight shoulder shrug. "I'll have to keep that in mind." She smiles, her brown eyes a softer color in the sunlight. I climb into the backseat and Trisha follows suit. She pulls out of the lot and onto the open street. I look up and our eyes meet in the rear-view mirror.

"We're searching Wileston Avenue and the surrounding area," she repeats, though I think it's mainly for Bree's benefit. "Is there any places we should check first? Places that you think Connor might enjoy or something?"

"The boy loves his coffee," I say softly, a memory surging forward in my head. It had been in ninth grade and we'd both been so nerdy back then, cramming for every quiz and exam. But, this time, we'd been stupid and I dared him to drink like five espressos after he'd already had three energy drinks. He'd fallen to the floor an hour later, hyperventilating because he was laughing so hard. He couldn't breathe, though, so my parents rushed us to the hospital. They fixed his breathing quite nicely and gave us a stern warning. We laughed so hard afterward...

I miss him so much, I think to myself and I'm quite disappointed. This whole time he's been missing all I have thought about is the sacrifice that I've made, finding him, and getting home; but never once have I felt like I miss him. Until now.

"We'll check the cafes first," Bree says but I barely hear her. I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes. I feel a single tear drip down my cheek and I have to resist my urge to whimper, to curl up in a ball and just sleep this off. I miss Connor more than anything in the world, even more than my father. Connor had always been there, minus the exception of this summer, but even then I still was his friend. I miss him and it's about time that I bring him home.

I'm not sure how long the drive actually is but time passes pretty quickly and Trisha pulls up in front of a cafe. We pile out of the car but I stand on the side walk for just a moment, admiring the establishment. It's just like any cliché cafe you've ever seen -cutesy yellow and blue striped awning and same outside area with circle shaped tables- and it sort of brightens my day. Connor had never really been a "tough guy" and this sort of place would have been right up his alley. In fact, he's all this place makes me think of.

Wait, not just think of him. I feel him, as if he is near, as if he's right here in this cafe. I clutch a hand to my chest, looking over to the two girls. "Guys," I whisper more to myself than them. "I can feel him. He's been here before."

They don't say anything but rather lead us into the small building. There's booths lining the left wall and tables to the right where there's a bar toward the back with shiny red stools. This is the kind of place that probably serves cupcakes and breakfast around the clock, never any alcohol, but is a family place. I sort of feel welcome in here. I scan the faces in the booths and chairs but much to my despair, none of them are Connor. For a brief moment a waitress and I lock eyes. She's tall, slender, with straight red hair and eyes that are so similar to my jade green ones. She seems to examine me with great interest before walking over to our group.

"Can I help you with anything?" She asks, putting a fake smile upon her face. She tries to sneak a look at me again, but in fear of me calling her out, she avoids looking at me all together. "Can I get you lovely ladies a table?"

"Uh," Trisha starts, looking back at me. I shrug. I haven't eaten yet, why not? "Yeah. Can we have a booth?"

"Sure thing. If you just follow me," says the waitress, her name tag reading Laura, as she picks up three menus and walks over to an open booth. We casually sit down, Bree and I opposite of Trisha. Laura smiles once again and pulls out a pad of paper and a pen. "Can I get y'all anything to drink?"

"Coffee," I say, trying to be like Connor. I haven't the slightest idea why I want to, I just do. "Caffeinated, sugar."

"And for you two?"

"I'll have hot chocolate," said Trisha and I couldn't help but find humor within her order. She herself was an attractive black woman, therefore, she was hot chocolate as well. It's funny but it makes me feel a little racist.

"Iced tea with lemon, please," chimes in Bree. Laura writes this all down and promises to return in the moment. She's barely out of earshot before Bree speaks again. "She keeps staring at you. She knows something, I bet."

"Don't be too hasty," Trisha warned. "Don't spring anything on her, okay?" We all nod and when she comes back with our drinks, I catch her eyes dart over at me again. What's so interesting about me?

Instead of interrogating the poor waitress as I can feel we all want too, we actually order meals and eat breakfast together. They can tell I need a pick-me-up, so they tell jokes and funny stories and I already begin to feel closer to the two girls. Until I started hanging out with the pack back home, Connor had been my only real friend, so this is sort of refreshing. We laugh and we smile and in all honest, we have quiet a decent time. When we finish, we pay up at the bar and leave a pretty decent tip for Laura.

We're about to exit the cafe but I stop Trisha. She looks at me, brown eyes glistening with curiosity. I look down. "I'm sorry, but I can't go without asking her some questions." She gives me a half smiles because she understands. I turn swiftly on my heels and rush to the bar, where she's busy serving a customer. I take this time to pull out my phone and find a picture of Connor and I together, both with goofy smiles and nerd glasses. I almost laugh out loud but when she sees me, she comes right over. "Is there a problem or something?"

"No," I say, "Well, yes. No. Kind of. Sorry, I'm rambling."

"It's alright-"

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask, interrupting the poor girl. I normally would have let her finish speaking but I'm beginning to get restless and I need answers. Now.

"I don't see why not," she smiles bright. I hold up the phone to her, biting my lip hard.

"Have you or have you not seen this boy?"

Her eyes fall slightly from the phone to the counter. After a second or two, she moves lock of red hair from her eyes to behind her ear. She takes a deep breath. "You're Priscilla, aren't you?"

"What?" I ask, completely thrown off track. "How do you know my name?"

She smiles, shrugs, and closes her eyes before speaking. "You're all Connor ever talks about when he's here."