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“Yeah,” Logan said, looking around the place with a puzzled expression. “To be honest, I don’t really know much about guns, but we just moved in with our family. We’re trying to get rid of the dogs that we’ve seen in our backyard. We’ve got a little sister and we’re worried about her. What are your suggestions?”
I tried to keep a straight face. Logan was good at acting. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it into Hollywood with his charming good looks and his acting skills.
“Ah,” Hank said, smiling wider like he knew something we didn’t. “Dogs. That’s a big problem here at Oakmere. Follow me.”
We followed him to a set of rifles behind the counter. He went behind the counter, took a gun off the rack and handed it to Logan. Logan took it in his hands and had a good look at the gun.
‘Does this look familiar?’ Logan asked through the mind linked, playing with the black metal.
“No, you’d smell the wolfsbane. This isn’t what we’re after. It’s just a regular rifle.’
So, why did your family decide to move to such a small town? Hank asked, curiously.
“Our dad’s a geologist. We move around a lot, to small towns. We usually stay for two to three years and then we move again,” Logan said smoothly.
“How old are you, son?” Hank asked, scratching his wrinkled face. Just so you know, we can’t sell guns to under-18s here and you’ll need to show a valid gun licence when you come to buy one.
“I’m nineteen, sir,” Logan said, smiling. He got out his wallet and showed his gun licence to Hank. Logan wasn’t wrong about that. He actually had a gun licence, but didn’t own any guns.
“So, tell me about these big dogs,” Hank suggested, leaning over the counter.
Logan put down the gun and looked at him, “Well, I don’t know what steroids Oakmere feeds them, but they’re huge! The one I saw was about the size of a bear and it was growling all the time. We locked up the house, scared that it was going to attack us.”
“It didn’t leave for about an hour,” I piped in for the first time. Hank gave me a curious look. “We called the police, but they thought we were crazy.”
“That’s what the police always say,” Hank finally said. “They don’t believe a word about those huge dogs.”
“Bingo,” Logan said excitedly through the mind link.
“You’ve seen these huge dogs too?” I said quietly.
“Lots of times,” Hank waved off. He looked like he was up to no good. “Hey, have you guys ever heard of werewolves?”
“What the hell is a werewolf?” Logan asked, looking at Hank in a strange way. I almost laughed when Hank gave that smirk.
“Come on, kids,” Hank said smugly. “You guys have a lot to learn.”
‘This guy is so gullible. Any werewolf could walk into here and find his secret stash of wolfbane,’ Logan laughed through the mindlink.
‘He’s smarter than you think. Once he finds out they’re a wolf, he could just grab one of those guns from hell and shoot them dead in a couple of seconds.”
“Oh,” Logan realised, looking at me with fear.
We followed Hank through the door behind the counter. He took us through a long hallway and into a door that said ‘Caution: The electricity panel. Enter at your own risk.’ Hank took out a key and opened the metal door.
“Um,” Logan said simply, looking at the wires and panel box in the small room. “You wanted to show us the power room?”
“Keep your eyes peeled, kid,” Hank said with a wink. He went to the far right of the small room and took out one panel from the wooden wall. I was amazed to see a hidden white door appear.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked, putting on a bit of a scared face. It was all part of the act.
“I want to show you kids the guns we use to take down those big dogs,” Hank said excitedly. He opened the door, which had a little staircase that led to another door a level down. We followed him into a passageway that was pretty dark, and he led us to a metal door. “You’ll be amazed.”
Hank opened the metal door and I cringed as that familiar smell hit me like a freight train. Every time I breathed in, it felt like my lungs were on fire. There was so much wolfbane in the room that it was draining my energy.
Logan flinched when he caught the smell, grabbing my arm in fright. ‘Chill out, Logan,’ I told him. ‘You’re going to make it obvious.’
Hank switched on the lights, and my stomach did a U-turn when I saw all the weapons piled up in the room. I let out a little gasp, but only so I could hear it. This place is a real nightmare.
Hank took a deep breath and said, “To be honest, I love the smell of wolfbane. What do you guys think?”
“It’s got a lovely floral scent. I’m not really a flower person,” Logan said, sweat starting to form on his forehead.
“What’s wolfbane?” I asked, a bit curiously, my eyebrows knitting together.
“It’s a rare flower that grows underground,” Hank says, as if it’s his most prized possession. “We boil it to mix its essence and herbs with the water. We soak the bullets and knives in them for a total of forty-eight hours so it is useful.”
“I don’t get it,” Logan said, pretending to be confused. “What’s so special about Wolfbane?”
“Wolfbane is a powerful medicine,” Hank smirked. “We’ve been trying to get rid of those big dogs for years, but regular guns just weren’t cutting it. We found out that once this medicine gets into contact with those dogs, it’s enough to make them sick and even kill them.”
My wolf was growling, but I stopped myself. I wanted to give Hank a good smack for being so evil. At the end of the day, what did werewolves do that was actually harmful to humans?
Logan and I had a good look at the guns, but we didn’t touch them.
“How much is your cheapest gun?” Logan asked. I looked at Logan, totally shocked.
“Just go with it,” Logan suggested.
“The AR-15 rifle costs about $965.”
Logan let out a whistle and ran a hand through his light brown hair. “That’s a lot for a gun.”
“We charge a lot because of its wolfbane.”
“Can we get a better price, please?” I asked Hank, giving him a look that said I was desperate. “We really need to get rid of those big dogs around our house for the safety of our baby sister, but we’re skint.”
We were already heading back up to the main store and I was just happy to get out of that place. Hank gave us a second to think about it, then he took us to the entrance. “Well, my boss will be here on Wednesday, so if you’re up for it, we can buy it then. I’m pretty sure he’d make a deal with you guys.”
Logan nodded, looking over Hank’s head at a big portrait on the wall. There were about fifty guys with guns and big smiles on their faces. “Do you guys have a mafia or something?” Logan joked, pointing towards the portrait.
Hank laughed and patted Logan’s back. “That’s my team, mate. We love hunting. It’s what we love to do. The other day, we had a go at those big dogs. We lost a few crew members, but that’s what’s spurring us on to get back at those creatures. We have to do it for our fallen heroes.”
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. He spoke about his team as if they were the army, protecting the US. At the same time, I could feel the hairs on my arm standing on end. Once again, we were faced with the reality that there were people who wanted to shut us down.
“Great,” Logan said, putting on a fake smile. “We’d love to have a chat with your boss.”
We left the store as quickly as we could. Logan sat down looking tired. “I can’t believe we got a lead. We just need to meet the boss and figure out what to do next.”
“Yeah,” I said, taking a drag on my cigarette.
“That’s what you had to go through?” Logan piped up after a minute of silence. The tears were ready to fall at any moment, triggered by the raw memories. I blinked it back, took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I just nodded again. Logan let out a sigh and decided to switch topics. “So anyway, Beck and Kieran,” he said in a more relaxed tone, spitting the name Kieran out. We were asked if we could show them the basic training that healers get each week. So we’re going to train the representatives’ tomorrow morning.”