Red Hood (Book One)

Chapter Fourteen

As soon as we got home, Grandma went into her bedroom. I went to the kitchen and took a bottle of water out of the fridge. That photo Beverly sent me was stolen in mind. I wanted to tell Brandon, but I wasn't sure if it was related to his father's death.

I took a long sip of the water inside heavily. My phone rang from the living room. And then walked around the house, no one busted through the doors in here. Thank God. When I sat on the couch, I checked my phone. It was a missed call from Axel.

Of course I called him back. It rang three times before he actually picked up. Something fell with a loud thud. I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Hello?" Axel said.

I brought the phone back to my ear. "Hey, Axel? What's up?"

"Do you have plans tomorrow?"

"No."

"Alright. You want to come to the shop tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I might need a little something."

Axel chuckled. I leaned back on the couch. Maybe a look at the what they sell publicly will help me get some clues. It got quiet. I opened my purse, and the vial of blood was gone.  My heart started racing. 

 I walked around the house, looking for the vial. It wasn't here. How could I lose it? No one else besides Beverly knew that I had it. I had no proof of the secret Woods family business anymore. 

 "Yeah. I'm fine," I lied.

 "Good. I'll pick you up at 12. Wear something sexy." 

 "Bye, Axel." 

 "Bye, Candy." 

 He hung up. I turned the tv on. An episode of 'True Nightmares' came on. It calmed my nerves a little. I crossed my legs on the couch. 

 I took a deep breath. The show distracted me from my problem. I was more worried about those guys trying to kill their friend. My phone vibrated on my lap. 

 Five minutes later, I checked it. A message from Maula showed up on the screen. 

 Hey. I haven't seen you since yesterday. What's going on?

I smiled. Maula and I haven't talked since yesterday. Honestly, that slipped my mind. For all she knew, I was still sad about Brandon. I sent her a reply.

I'm sorry. We can see eachother at the Woodsman Shop tomorrow.

Another episode of 'True Nightmares' came on. My legs started shaking. What if I went to Maula's place tomorrow? I could take another vial from that box. She'd never notice anyway.

I can't believe I didn't consider this before. Then, I glanced out the window at the half moon. No wolves were howling tonight. My phone vibrated on my lap again. It was another message from Maula.

That's alright. I'll see you there.

I walked to my room with a smile on my face. As I stripped down to my white panties, I couldn't help thinking of Brandon. Maybe he saw the vial before we left the restaurant. I quickly put on an orange t-shirt and practically ran to the living room.

The answers I needed were halfway from my reach. I was tapping my nails on the couch as I called his number. It took him four minutes to answer.

"Hello?"

I stopped tapping my nails. "Hey, Brandon. Did you see a red vial fall out of my purse?"

 "Yeah. Why?" 

 "I found it yesterday at Maula's place. It looked like it was filled with blood." 

 "What kind of blood?" 

 "I'm not sure." 

 "Well, you'll have to 'find' another vial tomorrow. I'll check it out."

Honestly, it was a good idea. The vial I lost was probably in someone else's pocket by now. I put Brandon on speaker phone and clicked on the photo Beverly sent me. The box was sitting on a black dresser.

Suddenly, the tv turned off by itself. So, I stared at the wall. A loud knock on the front door broke the silence. I turned the lights off and ran to my room. As I caught my breath, I heard a knock on the window.

Damn it.

I took Brandon off speaker phone and sat on the bed. If the person outside the window heard him, they might hurt me. I held my breath. Tonight was almost chill. Until the late night knocker showed up.

The call already dropped. I sighed heavily. The knocking stopped, and I heard footsteps. When the door flew open, I flinched.

"You scared the hell out of me," I said.