Chapter 43 - A man standing among black flames
The charcoal turned out to be soot, soot that had a very sickly sweet smell to it.
Soot that led Ethan and I here.
"I don't know what you expect to find." Ethan releases a long whistle, eyes scanning over the charred remains of the sweet factory "you did this? All that's left is a pile of rubble" I purse my lips and slip under the police tape "I didn't do this. I escaped this." I slowly move closer to the rubble "there has to be a clue here" Ethan raises an eyebrow as he swiftly slips under the tape and stands beside me, assessing the damage "Red, you said the note came before this, that you went to the warehouse after your received the note. Why would they lead you back to the place they told you not to go to?"
"Because they knew I would ignore it, they knew I was desperate."
"Where's proof of that?"
I grind my teeth "I... I don't know, it's just a feeling!"
"So, we're following a 'feeling' you have because of some stupid mark on a note that is most likely from a traitor, your reading into this too much. I say we double back, find some Rogues and track them back to their..."
"You said it yourself they keep disappearing, you're just as good as a tracker as I am. Probably better with your... abilities. The mark is a clue" I scan over the rubble in front of me muttering lowly "I'm sure of it." Ethan grumbles and kicks a stone at his feet as we trudge closer to the factory remains.
"I don't see how the mark could be deliberate." I sigh and explain, obviously irritated "it is deliberate Ethan! They don't want me to know who they are, that's obvious from the way it was slipped into my locker, but they do want me to know where this note came from."
"How'd you suppose that?"
I sigh and turn on my heel to look at the sceptical Ethan "they've worked hard to disguise their writing, each letter is heavily imprinted, it would be lighter imprinted if this handwriting was their normal – i.e. they don't want me to know who they are but funnily enough the whole thing is clean, with no human or werewolf scent attached except this one single, obvious mark with a sweet-smelling scent attached. They're trying to tell me something."
"Red, your reading too much into it."
"Am I?"
Ethan purses his lips before saying "explain" with a long sigh.
"Someone warned me. Not Archer, not anyone else who could bring down an army on this warehouse, they told me. Obviously, they're too scared of the Rogues to go against them themselves but equally scared of being caught by the Pack so they come to me. And to know about me they must be part of the Rogues little plan because they're the only ones that know about what I do and who I am. Maybe, they're being blackmailed? Got caught up in the wrong crowd? Who knows. But they've come to me. I'm the only one that's part of neither Rogues nor the Pack. What does that tell you?"
Surprise flitters in Ethan's eyes as he catches on "that they're working outside of both. They're trying to warn..."
"and help."
Confusion is clear on his face as he rubs a hand over his forehead "but they were warning you about not entering the warehouse not anything else, that doesn't explain why we're here now, after doing exactly what they said not to do" I shake my head "it does. That mark, the soot smells like refined sugar, sweet. So, that must mean they burnt something here before I even entered the building. They wanted me to come back here."
