Part Three
"I can't believe she grounded me." Sam moaned.
Sam had just finished telling about what had happened the previous night. It really hadn't been pretty. After a rather lengthy argument in which the word 'trust' was used a little too often Sam had become a little… aggressive. In the end both Mike and Brooke had mingled into the discussion as well and it had ended in Sam almost literally throwing all of them out of her room.
She was grounded for four months.
At the very least.
"Come on Sam, it's not that bad." Lily tried to comfort her."I mean, it's not like you've never been grounded before, right?" Carmen added helpfully.
"I know," Sam sighed. "It's just… really bad timing."
"Why DID you sneak out of the house at night?" Harrison asked.
"I… I… hang out with a couple guys I know." Sam realised that this was not a very good response, but she couldn't think of anything else.
"Do we know 'em?" Carmen asked.
"Don't really think so." Sam answered.
"This isn't about drugs or anything, is it?" Harrison asked.
"NO! No, it's…"
(Come on Sam, think of something good.)
"Bible study group."
(D'OH!)
"'Bible study group'?" Carmen asked incredulously. "You sneak out at night to study the Bible?"
"Yeah, well, can't live without the Lord, right?" She offered weakly. (Why didn't I just say I used drugs? That'd be a lot simpler.)
"Then why didn't you tell your mom that?" Lily asked. "I'm sure she'd understand. Or at least ground you for a little less long."
Sam groaned and banged her head on the table. "I'm doomed."
"Now, now Sam, being grounded doesn't mean you go to Hell." Harrison tried to comfort her, but instead earned two glares from Carmen and Lily and another groan from Sam.
"What?"
After that Sam decided it might be best not to listen to her friends very carefully and think. She knew she had to do something, but she didn't want to drag her friends into her world. She needed to tell Dave about this, but since her mom was going to pick her up after school that may be rather difficult. Then the brunette had a sudden insight that might help her get out of this mess. She was hopeful for a moment, but then she realised WHO it was exactly that could help her.
"Nicole." She said softly. "I can't believe I have to go Nicole for help."
Sam got up from the table, excused herself and left, leaving three very confused teenagers behind.
"Did Sam just say she needed Nicole to help her out?" Harrison asked.Carmen and Lily merely nodded.
"Is anyone else scared about this turn of events?"
Again Carmen and Lily just nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~
"You got WHAT!?"
"This isn't funny Nicole."
"Sorry, but, yes it is." Nicole couldn't contain her laughter after Sam had told her in grave tones that she was grounded.
"You know what this means, don't you?"
"Wolfie doesn't get to play?" Nicole said in a singsong voice. The blonde knew that Sam was probably terrified that she might harm someone and she was going to exploit this as far as she could.
"Nic, I really need your help." Sam almost begged. "Please." Sam must be really, really, very desperate to say 'please' to Nicole.
"You know, I thought I was banned from dealing with you." Nicole said. "If I'm not mistaken you told me repeatedly that it would kill me. Literally."
"It'll kill you if you don't help me." Sam growled.
"Threatening me isn't going to get you very far, Spam."
"Apparently neither does saying 'please'." Sam muttered darkly.
"But I don't want you to think I'm completely unreasonable." Nicole was having an advantage here and she liked it. "So if you do me a small favour I might help you out."
"What kind of favour?" Sam asked grudgingly.
"I'm not sure yet." Nicole admitted. "But I'm sure I'll think of something."
"OK, fine, just help me out."
"How do I know I can believe you? I mean, face it we're not exactly best friends, now are we?"
"You Have My Word." Sam said slowly. "And where I come from that means something."
"What? Werewolves have a sense of honour?" Nicole asked laughing.
"Is that really so hard to believe?"
"Frankly, yes. But alright, what do you want me to do?"
"Thought you'd never ask." Sam sighed relieved. "Go to David's house, he's-"
"He's the leader, right?"
"Right. How did you know?"
"Came to talk me last night." Nicole explained.
"Oh." Sam seemed to be rather disappointed by this. "Well anyway, tell him I'm grounded and that I can't get out of the house."
"That's all?" Nicole asked incredulously.
"That's all." Sam confirmed.
"Why don't you just call him?"
"For some reason we don't like talking about stuff like this over the phone. Call it paranoia, but we just don't want to risk anything."
"Right." Nicole said slowly.
(And talking about it openly in the Novak isn't a risk?)
"You have the address?" The blonde asked.
Sam fumbled through her pockets and took out a small business card. Nicole looked at it and then looked back at Sam.
"OK I'll go there after school." Nicole said.
"Thanks Nic."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." The blonde said.
Nicole was a bout to leave the Novak when she thought of something."Couldn't you just sneak out the window again?"
"Mom nailed it shut."
"But you could break through it, right?"
"Easy." Sam said. "But I'm not going to. I'm grounded so I'm not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary."
"And going out to hunt so that you won't kill your family isn't necessary?"
"Nicole." Sam said threateningly.
"Fine, fine. I'm going." She said smiling. "But Spam, I just want you to know that right now you look like a junkie who's got to have her shot."
Sam was about to say something back, but then she realised that that may not be as far from the truth as she hoped.
~~~~~~~~~~
Nicole had expected David's shop to be a musty old bookstore or maybe one of those stores where they sold stuffed animals. But no, much to her surprise David owned a music store. And a quite modern one at that judging from the enormous amount of juvenile fashion victims lounging around the place. Well, at least the shop had a corny name.'White Wolf Records.' Honestly, what kind of a name is that?Inside it was both crowded and noisy and Nicole had to make her way through quite a lot of people before she reached the counter.
"Can I help you, miss?" The man behind the counter asked.
It was David and he smiled that faint 'I'm-going-to-sell-you-something-whether-you-like-it-or-not'-smile.
"Yeah, it's about Sam." Nicole said, hoping the guy would get the clue.
The guy got the clue. His smile disappeared again and he gestured to the back door.
"Hank! Take over for a sec, will you!" He then directed his attention back to Nicole again. "This way, Miss Julian."
The shop was connected to David's house through a rather short corridor. And the interior of the house was indeed what Nicole expected. Lots of musty old books and several stuffed animals. The blonde was half expecting whether or not she wanted tea.
"Please, sit down." David asked as he gestured towards a rather large, rather old chair.
Nicole quite reluctantly sat down on the ancient piece of furniture praying that nobody could see here in a room like this.
"So, have you reached a decision?" Dave asked.
"Yes I've made my decision! I want to remain human, I have no desire to turn into a wolf and chase things all around town!" Was what Nicole _wanted_ to say, but what she _really_ said was: "I'm still thinking about it."
"Fair enough." David said. "Now what's the matter with Sam? Anything wrong?"
"You could say that. She's grounded."
"And…?"
"And that's it. She can't get out and she's terrified she might do something to someone."
"I see." David said. "For how long?"
"Four months. At least, that's what she told me."
David whistled through his teeth. "That IS a bit long. But for now I can't do much about it. Come on, I'll show you out."
Nicole didn't like Sam, but for this man to be so casual about what Sam perceived as a predicament went a bit too far. Even for her."What do you mean, 'you can't do much about it'? Sam has begged me to go talk to you and all you say is 'I can't do much about it'!? What kind of leader _are_ you?"
"You are in no position to pass judgement miss Julian. Sam needs to understand that there is no difference between 'human' and 'wolf' and this might help her."
"There is a difference, you know. A pretty big one."
"Not when it comes to our kind. And I'll admit that Sam is probably going to have a very rough time. But every one of us has to go through it. Even me." He looked at Nicole and smiled. "And even you."
"I'm not a-"
"Not yet. But your continuing refusal to say 'no' means that one day you will say 'yes'. It's a textbook case, really. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have a store to manage."
And with that the conversation was officially over.
~~~~~~~~~~
Once Nicole stood outside the shop again she wasn't quite sure what to do next. She should probably go tell Sam what happened, but that wasn't really what was bothering her.
(I can't believe I'm doing this.)
Nicole took out yet another concealed cassette recorder, removed the cassette and looked at it. She then took out a lighter and set the tape on fire. After a few attempts the thing finally started to burn. She walked over to the nearest garbage can and threw the burning cassette in it. If she were to look behind she would see David standing behind the window to his shop. She would also see him grinning broadly.
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