The Rules of the Red - 2014 Watty Award Winner |✓|

Chapter Three - Part Five

trusting." Adelle paused to pop the gum she was chewing a few times, and then continued. "Even sweet old innocent Diane."

"I asked him if he ever figured out what caused the sickness that killed all those Supernaturals, and he didn't answer me - he flat out ignored my question."

"Doesn't surprise me." Adelle said, flippantly. "But maybe he really doesn't know."

"Yeah, but he still knows about it. Charles made it sound like he was so sure that it wouldn't come back. But how can he assure anyone of anything when he doesn't know what started it to begin with?"

"But it has been over eighteen years since it happened. And if it were really gonna start again, don't you think it would've by now? Besides, even though we know that the Elder isn't exactly what you'd call a 'stand-up guy', I think it would be a stretch to try connecting him to this. So far, all we know, is that Charles isn't above spying or threatening - which makes him an asshole, sure, but not a murderer."

"Well not yet, anyway." I said in a dark tone of voice. Frustrated, I decided to alter the topic.

"Hey Addy, you remember the note I told you about?" I said. "The one that someone left on my door a few days ago?"

Addy paused and peered through the camera to capture a pretty picture of the willow's leaves in the fading light.

"Mmm-hmm..."

"Well I was thinking - what if that note wasn't just about one person? I mean it said if 'they' find out, not if 'he' or 'she' finds out. And don't get me wrong, I still believe the Elder is looking more and more like a perfect suspect, but what if the person who left the note is trying to warn me about other people too?"

Addy looked back at me, but bypassed the questions that I asked much in the same manner that my grandfather had.

"Naomi, I know that you don't know who left the note, but do you know why someone would leave it?"

I expected her to ask this question with a healthy dose of mistrust or skepticism, but my friend only looked back at me with curiosity. And there was no judgment within her regard.

"I'm not sure." I said evenly. "But there are some pretty ugly things that have happened in my past. And it's possible that what I was involved in could have attracted enough attention to make certain people... upset. But like I said, I can't be certain. And I don't know anyone else in Harbor that could have left this. The only person who would have done something like that is..."

"Jack," said my friend, quietly. "Jack would have warned you, right?"

"Yeah, except he wouldn't have just left a note. He would have told me this in person. He's not like the rest of my family." I replied, leaning back in my seat as I cast my troubled gaze to the ceiling. "And whoever wrote this note - I have a feeling they might know things about me, or my past, that even I don't. They're afraid of something, and they obviously think that I should be too."

"Yeah, they're afraid that if you wolf out in front of the wrong person you're gonna get yourself killed. And that might be all we know so far, but that seems pretty giant to me."

But I said nothing because I knew she was right. I couldn't change into the wolf - not unless it was important. And not until we had this figured out.

"Soooo, are you really sure that you'd rather not just look on the security film? Come one Naomi, one little peek wouldn't hurt. It would take, like, two seconds..."

"Not that I didn't reconsider once or twice," I replied, with another sigh. "But I haven't changed my mind. I still think we should respect their privacy. This person, whoever they are, might have gone out on a limb to warn me, and if they wanna stay hidden then I'll let them - for now."

There was more silence for a few moments, as we each interpreted the situation in our own separate ways.

"Addy," I said, finally, when I could think quietly no longer. "What happened to them? How could my family let things get this bad?"

"'I don't know." Addy replied, thoughtfully, and I watched her tuck a lock of shiny red hair behind her ear. "But I've always heard that when families go south, you should always blame the mother..."

But rather than think of my own mother, my thoughts fell on Sully Noble instead. She was my grandmother, a young woman that had lived until the ripe old age of twenty-one, and I cringed in pity each time I thought of her. And her story was a dreary, twisted account that Adelle had narrated while on the road to the motel.

Like the Noble women that had come before her, Sully was young and she was pretty - and all the men of the Garou knew it. And so as wolves did, they competed viciously for her affections, which she innocently basked within. But the Elder, Edward Noble, guarded his daughter with a giant, iron fist, protecting her from the ravenous, potential alphas that he knew had eyes for his daughter.

But at the young and tender age of eighteen, Sully was finally able to venture from beneath the giant shadow of her father's protectiveness. Which meant that when the equally young and handsome James Parker finally gathered his courage to approach her, Sully wasn't afraid to take the hand that he offered. She knew that James was her ticket to independence from Edward, so two years later she said yes and married her one untrue love.

But as time began to pass, Sully realized that her happy ever after wasn't turning out nearly as happy as she anticipated. And unfortunately, Sully's mother, Katherine, died just minutes after giving birth to her daughter, so she never had the chance to teach Sully just how complicated marriage could be. Otherwise, Katherine would have warned daughter that getting pregnant and bringing a child into the world with a man she didn't love, would never yield the results that Sully expected.

But even though there was no newfound amour from his wife after Edward was born, and even though his soft side really made him more of an Omega-type material, the Elder eventually appointed James as Alpha of the Garou. Because ultimately, and for all his shortcomings, James came from a rich family that had very few scandals on their record. Plus, Edward knew that he would lose his daughter forever if he couldn't find a way to help her assuage her guilt.

Details of the story then became fuzzier at that point, but over the years many of the Garou began to present their own theories of just what it was that had happened to Sully Kay Noble. But all in all, each account generally concluded the same - with Sully Noble somehow getting entangled with someone dangerous. His name was Caspian, and he served on the Vampire Council as a figurehead for his people, the Revenant Clan. But despite his mesmeric popularity, when he was