Phoenix Drop University- Softmore Year

10: Plans

"Alpha, we didn't see any sign of the girl, but we did find this laying on the ground next to her door." A blonde headed werewolf hands Aaron a cracked phone with a black substance stuck in the cracks.

Aaron's heart grows cold in fear, before Drake had only infected individuals, now, it seems, he's taking the more brute force approach, he must be getting desperate.

"I-I see, you did well, thank you." Axel lay asleep on the couch, should he wake him and tell him the truth, that his friend is likely long dead. Or let him sleep and face questions in the morning.

He decided to let him sleep, it would probably be the last wink he would get in a long while.

Aphmau comes into the room with Headmaster Forrester close behind, in all of his light brown bearded glory.

"Aaron, You look-" He begins, but the look on his face makes the Headmasters face fall.

"He's back, now he's taking people directly. First Mr. Willow, now a poor freshman." He stares at the inked phone in his hands, his stomach turning and rage boiling in his blood, he is not going to let this happen again.

"Headmaster, I need to find him, stop him before he takes anyone else. Do I have your permission to-"

"To take a small army of werewolves to patrol the halls and escort students to locations if they must go alone?" Headmaster Forrester finishes for him, making Aaron stare at him in awe.

"Because yes, yes you do, and anyone who volunteers gets a free pass of any class that they should miss." Aaron nods, and begins to stare at the phone again, he's not going to play this off not this time, play time is over.

....

A few hallways down, something moves in the vents, something black and foul, with two yellow eyes gazing for it's next target.

Lilac walks by his vent, her scent enraptures his attention, making his black heart pump for only a second.

"Ah! Such a strong mortal.... Perfect..."

He slithers out of sight, his form holding a human shape for only moments before falling into disrepair.

I need to feed faster, I'll be here for years, I need someone strong, someone with a powerful life force...

"That werewolf is strong, maybe I can get it alone..."

....

Axel shuffles and awakens on the couch, the three in the room turn to look at him, and he carefully examines Aaron's face.

"I found this, it was by her dorm. I'm... so sorry Axel..." Aaron hands him the ruined phone, Axel stares blankly at it at first, then slowly his face seems to drain and fill with color at the same times, his eyes, already puffy from sobbing, fill with tears once more, his voice cracks with overwhelming emotions.

"No... Y-You had to have found more, you had to!" Aaron bites his lip, if he told Axel the truth then it would cause the pack to panic, and panicked werewolves are the last thing they need.

"That's all Axel, I'm sorry... there's... nothing else we can do." In the span of a second, Axel flung himself onto the pillow of the couch, tears spilling down his face and the phone clutched within his hand.

"No. No. No, No NO! I said I would protect her... I promised... I should've paid attention..." Aphmau sits down next to the crying boy and pulls him into a very maternal hug.

"It's not your fault chico... It's not anyone's fault. It's gonna hurt for awhile, but it's going to be okay." This talk seems natural to her, it doesn't help that he's so tiny he looks like a child.

In fact, he did look kinda young to be in college.

"Wait, how old are you?" She asks still coddling him, him slowly calming down.

"Fou-Fourteen, I'm part of a gifted student program..." Aphmau gasps and glances at Aaron who looks both shocked and impressed, but shakes it off.

"Son. I want you to stay with us until we get to the bottom of his alright?" Aaron's voice goes much gentler now that he knows the kid's age.

"Yeah. Okay... I'll get my stuff..." Ge starts to get up but Aphmau stands up with him, taking his shoulder and leading him out the door.

"She's really good at mothering hmmm?" Headmaster Forrester points out before heading out the door as well, shutting it securely behind him.

                "Yeah, Yeah she is..."