Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 22: Danielle's Dilemma

Jewel accepted the newspaper from me while Danielle and Reza crowded in on either side to have a look.  I watched their faces closely as they began to read, nerves clawing at my stomach.  Maybe my instincts were wrong.  Maybe this kind of thing happened all the time and Kerry was simply overreacting.  She did seem to have that tendency.

But, somehow, I doubted that was the case.

I kept a particularly close eye on Danielle.  I got the impression she was good friends with Jewel and Reza but, frankly, I knew almost nothing about her, except that she was gorgeous, popular and had spent all summer learning French and touring Europe—which probably made her rich on top of being gorgeous and popular.  Other than that, I had no way of telling if the girl was a human rights activist or a serial killer.

I was not encouraged by the change in her expression as her pitch black eyes skimmed back and forth across the page.  A frown creased the smooth skin on her forehead.  Her lips tightened.  She leaned in closer to Jewel, her body rigid, reading with such intensity she seemed unaware of anyone or anything else in the room.

On Jewels other side, Reza was the complete opposite.  He appeared quite unconcerned and occasionally even amused by the article.  He was leaning casually against the back wall, his left forearm propped up on his knee.  There was a faint smile on his face.  He kept chuckling and shaking his head like he thought the whole thing was one big joke.

Jewel herself was reading with nearly as much intensity as Danielle.  But, contrary to looking tense and worried, her expression was eager to the point of almost looking excited.  She had this crazy gleam in her eyes, as if she was anticipating doing something both exhilarating and terrifying.  Like hang-gliding or bungee jumping.

I was twisting my hands together, waiting anxiously for them to say something.

Danielle was the first one to finish.  She looked up at me.  "Where did you get this?"

"Umm," I began to answer.  "Well..."

"Have you shown it to anyone else?  Has anyone else seen it?"

"No... I mean yes... well, I mean, I haven't shown it to anyone, but Kerry and Deanna saw it before I did."

"Hey, come on," Reza said.  "It's not a big deal, Danielle.  It's just a silly tabloid newspaper.  They come out with ridiculous stories all the time.  Werewolves.  Big-foot.  Aliens.  No one takes them seriously."

"This is different," Danielle said, her features tense.  "There was physical evidence.  Witnesses."

"It'll blow over," Reza said casually.  "It always does."

"Hey, guys," Jewel said, before Danielle could respond.  "I'm not sure we should be talking about this here."

I looked around.  No one appeared to be eavesdropping, but there were several people within hearing distance.

"I think you're right, Jewel," Reza said.

With Jewel leading the way, the four of us filed out of the cafeteria and found an empty classroom down the hall.  Reza checked to make sure the surrounding rooms were all equally empty, then pulled the door closed with an audible snap.

The knot of anxiety inside my chest seemed to tighten.  My eyes were on Danielle, who now pacing restlessly up and down the room.  She seemed pretty agitated.

"Hey, Danielle," Reza said calmly.  "Chill out.  It's not the end of the world."

"Did you even read the same article I did, Reza?" Danielle said, her voice tight and strained.  "Bloody footprints on the scene?  Bite marks?  Similar stories pouring into just one local newspaper?  Websites?"