Basic Oblivion

Chapter 8

Kylan was sitting on a hospital bed, replaying his fight with Jason in his head for what felt like the hundredth time, the thoughts he had around the end of the fight were too fuzzy to remember. Jason's speed, strength, the way he transformed into a werewolf, and the necklace he wore around his neck. Everything about Jason was reminding him of someone but he couldn't name who. Getting up, Kylan made his way out of the hospital, his wounds barely hurting him anymore.

When Kylan got back home, he was rewarded with a surprise party from his friends. Everyone but Porter kept checking up on him to see if he was alright, each time he would tell them that he was fine. The party lasted hours, but it was hard for Kylan to focus on everything happening around him when his thoughts kept returning to his fight with Jason.

When the party had ended, Kylan approached Alpha. "I need to ask a favor from you," Kylan asked him.

"What is it?" Alpha asked.

"Is there any chance that you can track someone using something that belonged to them?" Kylan asked.

"Of course I can, I'm a wolf. Not to mention I'm permanently infused with magic," Alpha said. "Who is it that you want me to track?"

Kylan pulled out the bandana that Jason had been wearing from his pocket. "I'm not really sure who it is, but I managed to grab this off him," he said. "It's the guy I was fighting at the mayor's party. He's the one who put me in the hospital and I have reason to believe he was in charge of the entire thing."

Alpha looked at the bandana. "Sounds strong," he said. "He also sounds dangerous. Why do you want to find him?"

"I need to have him answer some questions for me," Kylan said. "Will you do it?"

"Alright, fine," Alpha said, rolling his eyes. "Let me see it."

Kylan moved the bandana to Alpha's snout and let him sniff it. It didn't take long, but Alpha's eyes went wide with shock before his face quickly changed to a grim look. "Sorry, but I can't trace it," he said, looking away.

Kylan eyed Alpha suspiciously. "You're lying," he said. "I can see it in your eyes. Why?"

"Look, I can't help you with this one," Alpha said. "I just can't. The person you're trying to track happens to be someone dangerous and unstable. If he's the one that put you in the hospital, then you should consider yourself lucky that that's all he did."

"You talk like you know him," Kylan said.

"I used to. Justin and I both. We were all...close," Alpha said. "Look, this isn't something I want to talk about. The point is, if you see him again, don't go near him and, whatever you do, don't make him mad."

Jason crawled out of his hotel bed like he was suffering from a hangover. He got dressed into clean clothes and realized that he'd lost his bandana. "Hey, Osias, have you seen my bandana anywhere?" he asked. "It's brown, I always wear it around my neck. You know what it looks like."

"No, I haven't," Osias said. "When was the last time you had it?"

Jason thought back as far as he could. "I was wearing it when I fought that Kylan guy, but I blacked out during the fight," he said. "I'm not even sure how I got back here."

"By the time you came back, we were all asleep," Zeta said. "Look, if you can't find the bandana, just wear one of your other ones."