Down the Rabbit Hole

Grim Reminder Part 2

They drove all day and through the night until they reached a town in Oregon called Burns. They pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of the Rain Fall Motel. Once they had checked in Sam took the research he had done out of his duffle and spread it out on the table.
"Okay, we're here." He pointed at the motel on the map. "This is the club where the skin walkers have set up shop, its called the Warlock club. They use the club as a front to lure people in, I don't know what happens to these people but so far there are reports of three missing persons cases in the last two weeks. The plan is to infiltrate the club and find out where the missing people are, if they're still alive." Sam told her.
"Okay, what are we waiting for then." Lacey smiled. She studied the map before taking hold of Sam's arm and teleporting them over to the club.

They re-appeared on the other side of the street facing the club. From the outside it looked like any other night club, dark facing, strobe lighting flashing from within and a bouncer standing at the door.

"Damn." Sam swore.

"What?" Lacey asked, turning to face him.

"You haven't got ID." Sam reminded her. Lacey smiled at him before pulling something out of her bag.
"Will a drivers permit do?" She asked holding it up.
"You have a drivers permit?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yep. I was having lessons with Mr Logan and Kitty." She shuddered. Sam looked at her questioningly. "Lets just say most of the stop signs ended up sticking out of the car." She shrugged.
"Anyway..." Sam brought their attention back to the present. "Lets go then." They crossed the street and headed up to the door of the club. The bouncer took their ID's and examined them before indicating they could go in. As they walked through the door they could hear the beat of the music vibrating through the floor. Lacey grimaced. She wasn't really into the whole club scene. They crossed the crowded room and headed for the bar. Sam ordered drinks for them. Lacey lent against the bar sipping her drink when she spotted a guy heading over to her. He came and stood next to her.
"Hi." He said, although Lacey could barely hear him over the music.
"Hey." She replied, stirring the straw in her drink.
"I haven't seen you here before." The guy commented.
"I'm just passing through." Lacey told him.
"That's a pity." The guy said, looking her up and down. "Will you join me for a drink then?" Lacey glanced at Sam who nodded at her.

"OK." She nodded at him.
"Wonderful. I'm Marcus, by the way."
"Lacey." She reached out her hand but instead of shaking it he took hold of her hand and kissed it. Lacey raised an eyebrow. This guy was starting to creep her out.
"Shall we take a seat?" he asked indicating an empty booth at the back of the club.
"Sure." She nodded and followed behind him. They sat down in the booth and Lacey took another sip of her drink.
"So, where are you headed to?" Marcus asked.
"Just travelling around with my friend." Lacey replied, nodding in Sam's direction.
"Fair enough. We travel around as much as we can as well." Marcus nodded.
"We?" Lacey asked.
"Me and my friends. We don't like to spend too much time in one place." He explained. Lacey nodded, glancing around the club. Noticing her attention wandering Marcus lent forward.
"I know what you are." He said quietly. Lacey stared at him for a moment.
"You do?" She asked uncertainly.
"I know one of my own when I see one." Marcus smiled at her. "You're a skin walker." Lacey smiled knowingly.
"You got me." She admitted, crossing her fingers behind her back.
"How long have you been..." Marcus trailed off.
"Almost 2 years." Lacey replied.
"And you haven't found yourself a pack?" He asked, sounding surprised.
"No, like I said I travel around a lot so I've never met anyone like me, until now." It was half true, she'd never met anyone with the same...genes as her at all.
"Well I guess it's your lucky night then." he smiled at her lasciviously. She gave him a small smile back. "Would you like to meet the rest of my pack?" He asked.
"Yes, I would like that." Lacey chose her words carefully.
"Follow me." He stood up from the booth and headed right to the back of the club where another bouncer stood guard in front of a door. As soon as he saw Marcus he stepped aside to let them pass. They went through the door and into the back room. The room was quite large but it was hard to see how large in the darkness. A few candles were scattered around the room casting their flickering light against the dank walls. A few people milled about talking quietly among themselves. Marcus headed towards a small group that was gathered around a table at the far wall.
"Lacey this is Keira, Emily and Jordan, some of the members of our pack. Guys this is Lacey, she's one of us." The three of them nodded at her and whispered greetings before turning back to what they were doing.
"What's going on?" Lacey asked, glancing around.
"They're preparing."
"Preparing for what?" Marcus looked at her, sizing her up.
"Our pack leader will be here shortly. We make a sacrifice to him once a month and he offers us protection."
"Sacrifice?" Lacey asked, her eyes widening.
"Yes." Marcus nodded and indicated the grating in the floor. Lacey looked down and realized there were three people below them cowering in the corners of the cell. Lacey nodded, mentally she contacted Sam and told him what she had found, telling him she would let him know when the leader had arrived.
"So" Marcus said, leading her over to a set of chairs in one corner. "Tell me a bit more about yourself?"
"What do you want to know?" Lacey asked.
"What do you do?"
"I'm a student at an institute for higher learning in New York." Lacey told him.
"And what do you study?"
"A little of everything, science, ethics, hand to hand combat." Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Hand to hand combat? A delicate little thing like you?"
"You'd be surprised." Lacey told him, annoyed. As Marcus looked at her surprised she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. On the far side of the room another set of doors opened and three people emerged. The one that caught Lacey's attention was the tall, grim looking man in the middle. Flanked by two body guards he made his way down the set of steps and into the centre of the room. The groups of people scattered around the room fell silent and all moved together creating a semi-circle around their leader. Marcus got to his feet and Lacey followed him, joining in the circle. Marcus stepped forward out of the group of people before bowing low.
"Thank you for coming my lord." The guy motioned for him to stand.
"The sacrifices are ready?"
"Yes, we have them waiting for you." He motioned to a few of the guys. They headed into the corner of the room and opened the grating before hauling the people out. Lacey called out to Sam in her mind and as the victims were dragged into the centre of the room she made her move. The ground began to quake below their feet, the group of people began to part trying to get to cover as bits of stone began to fall from the ceiling. Lacey strode forward towards the leader, as Marcus turned to her in surprise she placed a hand on his cheek. He turned pale and gasped for breath as she drained his life force until he fell to the ground unconscious. The body guards stepped in front of the leader, Lacey blasted one of them with kinetic energy from her hand, sending him flying backwards across the room before he hit the wall. The second one took a step backwards looking at her wearily, she smiled at him before tendricals erupted from her wrists, grabbing hold of him and sending him flying into his buddy, knocking the two of them out. As she turned her attention to the leader she heard a loud cracking noise, her head snapped around and she saw Sam standing in the doorway with a gun pointed in her direction. As all rest of the people in the room scattered she turned back to the leader to find him crumpled on the ground, a bullet hole through his head.
"Nice shot." Lacey commented as Sam came to stand beside her.
"Thanks. Where are the prisoners?" Lacey pointed at the three people in the corner of the room. Sam headed over to them.
"Come on, lets get you out of here." He told them and the two of them escorted them out.

The following morning they were back in the car heading to the compound.
"So what are you going to do now?" Sam asked Lacey.
"Head back to the institute I guess." Lacey shrugged.

"You're not sticking around?" Sam asked.
"I...I can't. It's to difficult to be here all the time."

"You miss him?" Sam asked. Lacey stared out of the windscreen, calming her emotions before she answered.
"Every minute of every day. That's why I can't be here. When I'm away I have distractions, things to get on with, friends to spend time with. And it works, most of the time." She shook her head. "But anyway I can always come back if you need me." She pulled a pen out of her bag before taking hold of Sam's hand and writing her number on it. "There now you can call me whenever." She smiled at him. "I'll see you around Sam. I'm glad you're back." She said before teleporting out of the car.

She dropped in to say goodbye to Bobby before opening up a portal to the institute. When she arrived back she headed up to her room and sat down on her bed, her mind was reeling. Making a decision she changed her clothes then packed all of her stuff into a bag. She teleported downstairs before knocking on the door to the Professors office. He called for her to enter and she phased through the doors. The Professor looked up from his desk where he was studying some papers and smiled at her.
"How can I help you Lacey?" He noticed the bag in her hand. "Are you off on another trip?"
"Yeah...sort of...I think it's time i was going, at least for a while. I have had an amazing time staying here and I've learnt so much. But I think it's time I started travelling again, I have all these powers, I might as well use them to see the sights." Lacey gave him a small smile in return.
"Of course, I understand. But just know you will always be welcome to come back, should you choose to."

"Thanks." Lacey's smile widened and she shook his hand. She was truly grateful to the Professor for giving her a place to belong. She turned around and opened another portal. She glanced behind her, taking one final look at the place before she stepped into the swirling mass and it closed behind her.