The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series) Page A

the unknown.

Chapter Ten
    W e drove away from town to the mostly abandoned industrial district, passing by empty lots and dilapidated buildings as we went. The slowly eroding buildings were all a depressing gray that caused them to blend in with the murky sky. The district has the feel of a ghost town. Only transients and other seedy characters dwell there these days.
    I glanced at the door to make sure it was locked, then looked at Lucy’s face in the rear view mirror. She had her eyes pinched shut like she was trying to pretend that nothing was happening. I couldn’t imagine how she felt. I was scared enough just being involved in the situation. Lucy had to face the fact that she might become a werewolf in a world where we would have never imagined such things existed.
    The crunch of gravel on asphalt along with the slowing of the car brought my attention back to our surroundings. Jason had pulled into the back lot of an empty, cavernous warehouse and was driving into an already opened bay. Once inside, he parked, then we all got out to survey our surroundings. Jason walked back to shut the bay door behind us while Max took several electric camping lanterns out of the trunk of Jason’s car.
    Max turned on each lantern as he placed them around the expansive, creepy, dusty room. I looked up and everything was black, there was no telling how high the ceiling was. I felt the darkness pressing down on me, inciting panic, like reverse claustrophobia. I took slow breaths, in and out, hoping no one noticed. I drew my hand over the beads of cold sweat that had formed on my brow.
    As Max’s lanterns filled the warehouse with a dull glow, I took more of a look around. Trash and what appeared to be old clothes littered the floor, giving off an unpleasant, mildewy smell. The area where Max was setting up the lanterns had been swept clean of debris. I tried to distract myself by attempting to make out some of the graffiti that covered the walls until Max walked back toward us.
    “You ready?” Max asked Lucy, who was huddling next to me looking terrified.
    “B-but, it’s only 6:00,” Lucy stammered.
    Max shrugged. “Better safe than sorry.”
    I put my arm around Lucy’s shoulders, acting calmer than I felt, and walked her to a metal-framed folding chair that Max had placed in the center of the lanterns. Jason approached with the chains and cuffs.
    Jason faced Lucy. “Go ahead and sit down,” he told her.
    Lucy slowly sat on the black canvas seat of the rickety metal chair, then looked up at Jason with huge, terrified eyes. “What next?”
    “Hold out your hands.” Jason set the chains and cuffs on the cement floor and demonstrated by holding his hands in front of him, wrists side by side. Lucy slowly complied, but was trembling so badly that she could barely hold her wrists together.
    Jason picked up one set of cuffs and knelt by Lucy. He gingerly cuffed her hands together, running the cuff on her right hand through a link of the chain before locking the cuff down. He then put the second pair of cuffs around her ankles and attached the other end of the chain, kind of hog-tying her. Then, using a big padlock, he attached the loose ends of chain to a metal loop coming out of the concrete ground. I hadn't noticed the loop before, and wondered what its original purpose was. Finished, Jason backed away to survey his handiwork.
    “Is that it?” I asked. “It doesn’t seem very . . . restraining.”
    Jason turned his attention to me. “It will be when she’s in wolf form. She’ll be a lot bigger than she is now. We don’t want the chains to hurt her when she changes.”
    Oh, well that made sense . . . I guess.
    Lucy watched us with big, terrified eyes. I went and sat on the bare concrete beside her, taking her hand in mine. The cold from the ground seeped into my body. Everybody else sat in a semicircle in front of us.
    “How did you know Dan was crazy?” I asked, turning to Max.
    He gave me a confused look.
    I