WARNING: The following chapter deals with the subject of sexual assault. Though nothing is described in any detail, it is still part of the story. Reader discretion is advised.


Chapter eight- A Werewolf's Purpose (part one)


It was a beautiful April morning. Spring was on the way, and with it the temperature was finally starting to get warmer. But although Spring was Anna's favourite time of year, right now she had other things to think about- like her second full moon. It would only be in a few more days and she still wasn't sure how to spend her second proper night as a werewolf. For now though, she was just taking things one day at a time.

She had just returned home from her morning run as usual. Alice was out again, this time attending a job interview for a position at a bar in a hotel. Anna unscrewed the top of her water bottle and went to the kitchen sink to fill it up again. As she sipped on her bottle, she heard the post come through the door. She walked over to the mail and saw Cookie staring at it.

"Let's see what the postie bought us today huh, puss?" said Anna as she scratched the back of Cookies ear. She then picked up the post and looked through it.

"Bills, bills, bank statement, no I couldn't care less about PPI, "We tried to deliver a package but you weren't there."- But I was in. Why didn't you just knock, you numpty? Now I've gotta go to the post office to get it..."

There was only one more letter in the pile, and it was addressed to Anna. It was a reply from a recent job interview she had the previous week. She opened it, hoping for good news.

"Damn, rejected again. Mind you... Given my condition, keeping a job would be tougher than getting one. What would I do on days where there's a full moon? Granted, it'd be okay during the Summer when the days are longer, but when it's Winter and it'll be night time by half past four... Yeah. That'd make things harder. But I can't stay on the dole forever... What can I do?"

Suddenly, Anna's phone rang. She looked at it and saw it was from Lucy, who had exchanged phone numbers with her the night she met Miyuki.

"Hi Lucy. What's up?"

"Hello there Anna. I saw you outside the shop on your run today. Well done on not tripping over this time!"

"You didn't call me just to say that, did you?"

"No. I actually have something of a proposition for you, if you want it. You're still looking for work, right?"

"Yeah. Just got another rejection in the post today, as it goes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was talking with Amanda, and we figured that things would be even harder for you because of your current... changes."

"That thought had occurred to me."

"I thought as much. So, how would you like to work at my shop? Obviously you'd get a decent wage out of it, and Amanda's often said she could really use some extra help."

"Hey! I never said that!" said Amanda in the distance.

"Hmm." said Anna. "Working for you would be convenient. I assume you have a contingency for full moons, yes?"

"That’s right. We only open until midday on those days. The excuse being it's closed for stock taking reasons. Are you interested? We really could use some extra hands around here."

"Yes please! Right now, I'll take anything."

"Great! Come over to the shop at around two O' clock tomorrow, and I'll show you what you'll be doing. Then you can start on Monday. Does that sound fair?"

"Perfectly. Might have to tell Alice it's an interview though. She might start wondering how I managed to get a job on the spot..."

"That's fine. We'll see you tomorrow then. I know Amanda will be looking forward to be doing less work around here now. Bye!"

"I don't have THAT much trouble, sweetie..." said Amanda as Lucy hung up.

"Well." Anna thought as she put her phone away. "Someone seems to be smiling down on me. An actual job? Maybe it's not something I pictured myself doing, but then I never really had any major ambitions anyway. It's a job, and that's what matters."



A few hours later, Anna was lying on the sofa playing on her 3DS when Alice walked in. She walked upstairs and entered the living room with a sour look on her face.

"Interview went badly?" asked Anna, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"They said they'd call me back, but I doubt they will." Alice replied. "They didn't seem all that impressed with me. So yeah, I'd say it's another dud. Any better luck on your end?"

"Well, the bad news is I got a rejection from that place I went to last week. The good news is... I was offered an interview at that costume shop! It's tomorrow, and apparently it's no experience necessary so I may have a good chance of getting this one!"

"Huh. Those two really seem to like you, don't they? You've been hanging out with them quite a bit lately. Still, I can't complain. You're making new friends, and that's a good thing. Unlike in Pernington where you could count your friends on one hand. You've really come out of your shell, too. I've never seen you this chatty and active."

"Yeah, I haven't felt like this in a long time. If ever."

"I'll say. Oh, yeah. I was wondering, we haven't had a night out in a while, have we?"

"Not since I was attacked, no."

"Alright, how about we go out for a few drinks tonight then? Since there's a pub less than five minutes away. We could let our hair down a bit."

"Sounds like an idea. Are you planning to bring Steve along, too?"

"Nah, he's working a night shift all week, isn't he? Besides, I want this to be just the two of us. We definitely haven't done that in a while."

"We haven't, have we? Okay then, let's do it. It'll be fun!"



"You know, I've just realised I don't know much about Steve's job..." said Anna as she took another sip of her glass of Fosters. She and Alice had already been at the pub for a few hours, and they had been making idle banter all night.

"Not much to say, really." said Alice. "Warehouse work at the Docklands. Mainly loading ships. He enjoys it, though his boss is a little worried about the Red Sun corporation..."

"Oh god, are they targeting his firm now?"

"Not yet, no. But there are fears it'll only be a matter of time. The firm's been doing pretty well, and those are the ones Red Sun go for. Pretty much eliminating the competition."

"Damn. Let's hope they stay away, then. I'd hate to see Steve lose his job the way Amanda did."

"Right, I remember you saying she was laid off when Red Sun liquidated her firm. Geez, who do think they are?"

"I know, right? They seem to be taking over everything, and no one can seem to stop them. Sad, really..."

Suddenly, two more drinks were placed on their table. A pint of Carlsberg on Alice's side, and another pint of Fosters on Anna's.

"Umm... We didn’t order these." said Anna to the bartender who bought the drinks over.

"I know. They did." the bartender replied. She pointed to another table with two men sitting at it, who gestured towards them. One was Indian in origin and was wearing a blue T-shirt with light blue jeans. The other was a Caucasian man wearing a striped shirt which was half unbuttoned, showing off a grey T-shirt underneath. Anna's stomach started to drop. Something didn't feel quite right...

"I get the feeling they want a chat." said Alice. "Shall we?"

"Uh... I don't know..." Anna started, but Alice had already grabbed her drink and moved over to the other table.

"Dammit, Alice! What are you playing at?"

Still feeling uneasy, Anna took her drink and walked to the other table as well. She set herself down next to Alice.

"Hi, glad you accepted our little invitation." said the Indian man. "It's always a shame to see two lovely young ladies such as yourselves drinking on their own. Were you on your own?"

"Yeah, it's just me and Anna here." Alice replied. "We live pretty close by, so we thought we'd have a bit of a night out. Just the two of us."

"Nice. Your friend's name is Anna, huh? I'm James. This here's Trevor." The Indian man gestured at his friend.

"Hiya." said Trevor. "Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise. I'm Alice."

"Y-yeah. Nice to, uh... Nice to meet you." Anna said nervously.

"You two come here often, then?" asked Trevor.

"Not particularly. We moved here in January and we've been a bit busy. Mainly looking for work, and then Anna here got attacked by a wild animal a few months back. We haven't had much time to have a night out lately."

"Oof, a wild animal attack?" said James to Anna. "Sounds nasty. How bad was it?"

"I recovered surprisingly fast." said Anna, not wanting to make much in the way of conversation. She still didn't trust the seemingly friendly pair. Anna's sudden quietness wasn't lost on Alice.

"So, how about you two?" she asked. "Is this a regular spot for you?"

"Not at all." said Trevor. "We kind of... tour the country, checking out all the pubs in the area, then move on. We just arrived in London this afternoon, actually. We were in Birmingham just yesterday. Some real nice places there. One of our main hopes is that we'll find love as well. We haven't had much luck there, though."

Alice chuckled while sipping her drink.

"The ladies resistant to your charms, then?"

"I wouldn't say resistant." said James. "They just like to toy with us, you know? They act all interested, but then they never call back. It's like a game to them or something."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Anna muttered under her breath.

"So what about you, Anna?" said Trevor. "Do you have a job?"

"Not really..."

"She does have a job interview tomorrow, actually." said Alice. "At a costume shop in the shopping district here. She seems pretty confident she'll get it, too."

"Nice." said James. "Is she into that sort of stuff?"

"Kinda. She's always wanted to dress up, but she's not very good at costume making. She tried making a cosplay outfit for London Comic Con once, and it was a real disaster. She gave up after a few weeks and a ton of screw ups. It was quite funny, actually."

"Alice... Ix nay on the barassing stories embay..." Anna said quietly. Alice could tell that Anna was still behaving strangely, so she finally decided to confront her about it.

"You okay, Anna? You've been awfully quiet since we sat down here. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"C'mon. I've known you long enough to know that whenever you say "Nothing's wrong", something's very wrong."

Alice turned to James and Trevor.

"Can you two give us a moment, please? We kind of need a fag."

"Alice, you know I don't smoke..."

"Sure." said James. "Go ahead. We'll get you another drink while we're waiting."

"Ooo, that'll be great! Just get me a Carlsberg, will you please? Anna'll have a Fosters." Alice replied. She grabbed Anna and marched her out of the pub.

"Okay, Anna. Be honest. What's your problem?"

"I already said, nothing." Anna replied as Alice took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Sorry, but I don't buy it. Something's bothering you, and I can tell."

"Okay, fine. I can't help but think what Steve would say if he saw you flirting with those two. I know he's not the jealous type, but I don't think he'd appreciate it very much..."

"Oh, come on. Steve's always been perfectly fine with me talking to other men. He's not a control freak. Besides, I was actually trying to get you to talk to them. I mean, I already have a boyfriend, and I love him. But you could do with one too. Since you've already made a few friends here, why not take the next step?"

"I get that. But I'd prefer to date someone... nicer."

"Ah, so this isn't about Steve at all, is it? You don't trust those two, do you?"

Anna took a deep breath. She knew she wasn't convincing Alice otherwise. She could read her like a book.

"All right. No, I don't trust them. I can't tell what it is, but there's just something... off about them. Like, I have a gut feeling these guys don't have our best interests at heart. And I think you're being just a bit too trusting here. Like you always are."

"And you're not trusting enough, as usual. For god's sake Anna, I thought you weren't going to be like this anymore? This isn't Pernington. There's barely anyone here who knows you from school. What are you so scared of?"

"I'm not scared. Just suspicious. And you know what? When I have a gut feeling about something, I'm usually right."

"Anna, please. Not everybody out there are trying to get us."

"I know that! But that doesn't mean you should trust every person you meet. I'm sorry Alice, but..."

"No buts. Come on, you're better than this. You won't get very far in life if you keep hiding from everyone. Isn't that why you wanted to move in the first place? Anyway, I'm going back in and continue our little chat. If you want don't want to join, that's fine. Nothing stopping you from going home."

"No." Anna sighed as Alice stamped out her cigarette. "No, I'll go back in with you. You're right. Maybe I should be a little more trusting."

"There you go. Now let's have more like this, and less of the funny turns, okay?"

"Sure." said Anna, as she and Alice walked back into the pub.

"Besides, I think I may have to keep an eye on you..."

The pair sat themselves next to James and Trevor's table, where they had just set down some more drinks.

"There you go, ladies." said James. "Only just got these in. A Carlsberg and a Fosters, right?"

"That's right. Thanks." said Alice as she picked up her glass. Anna was about to do the same, finally admitting she was most likely overreacting about the two men and she should just start enjoying herself. But then...

"Hey, you alright?" said Trevor to Anna, who was suddenly sniffing.

"What? Oh- oh yeah." Anna replied. "Just thought my nose was feeling a little runny is all. I'm quite prone to colds, you see. Nothing to worry about this time though!"

The truth was, Anna was beginning to get very worried. Thanks to her enhanced sense of smell, she could detect every last smell in her drinks, and it didn't take her long to recognise all of them. However, in this particular glass was one smell that she didn't recognise. It was very faint, but it was there. Anna couldn't help but feel there was something else in this drink. Almost as if it had been...

"Say, Alice?" said Anna quietly. "I don't think we should be-"

Anna looked over and saw Alice drink down her lager.

"-drinking these..." she finished with a groan. "Okay..." she thought. "This is bad..."

"Ah, that was great!" said Alice. "Thanks for that. It really hit the spot!"

"Don't mention it." said James, before looking at Anna.

"Well, aren't you going to drink yours too?"

"My, aren't we being a little pushy?" Anna thought as she pulled out her phone. She had an idea...

"Uh... Yeah, I will in a minute. Just had a text from a friend of mine. I just need to check it ou- Whoops! That was clumsy!"

Anna purposely dropped her phone on the floor, underneath the table.

"Can you excuse me a sec?" she asked while picking up her glass. "I need to pick that up before someone nicks it."

She took her glass underneath the table and pulled out her water bottle, which she often kept by her side.

"Grandma always told me to keep a water bottle with you just in case you needed it. Looks like she was right..." she thought as she poured some of the contents of the glass into the bottle. She then picked up her phone and spilled what was left of the glass on the floor.

"God dammit, what's up with me tonight?" she said as she got back to her seat. "Dropping my phone, spilling my drink, not my night, huh?"

"You want another one?" said Trevor.

"Uh, thanks but..." Anna started, but she then noticed Alice starting to act a little strangely. She had taken off her glasses and was rubbing her eyes.

"You okay, Alice?"

"I-I don’t know. I'm feeling a little tired, I guess? My head's feeling a little hazy."

Alice started to wobble as if she was about to collapse. She didn't look drunk. Anna realised it had to be whatever was put in their drinks.

"Geez, you don't look good at all. Maybe we should go home..."

"You want us to give you a lift home, then?" asked James. That question really started to set alarm bells in Anna's head.

"That won't be necessary. We barely live five minutes away."

"I dunno, Anna." said Alice, her speech starting to slur. "I don't think I can even stand right now. You can't carry me home..."

"She's right, you know." said Trevor. "She looks pretty heavy. Are you really going to carry her home like that?"

"I'm stronger than I look." Anna said sternly as she placed Alice around her shoulder. "Like I said, we really don't need you to run us home, thank you very much. Nice meeting you. Bye."

As Anna carried Alice out of the pub, she had one last thought.

"You bastards are damn lucky it isn't a full moon tonight."

"Dammit A-Anna..." Alice slurred, her speech getting worse. "Ya rilly... rilly are kinda strong... Ya shure you ain't bin workin' ou or somethin'..."

Suddenly, Alice lost consciousness.

"Alice? Alice? Shit... The sooner I get you home, the better."

Anna managed to carry Alice all the way home as if it was nothing. As they approached the front door, Anna set her friend down and had a quick look around to see if they had been followed. Thankfully, they hadn't. She then unlocked the front door and walked in with Alice. She then set her down on the sofa and put a cushion under her head before going to Alice's bedroom to get her bedsheet, which she then draped over her sleeping friend.

"Man, it's times like this I'm glad I'm a werewolf." said Anna to herself. "If I hadn't been, those two would've had their way with us for sure. What did they put in our drinks anyway?"



It was fairly late in the morning when Anna woke up. Getting out of bed, she looked at her calendar. She could see the next full moon would be tomorrow... However, she had bigger things to think about right now. She went to the living room to check up on Alice, just as she began to stir and wake up.

"Mmm... Mmm. Anna?" Alice said as she woke up. "H-how did I get here? Did I spend all night playing video games or something?"

"Morning, Alice. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. I feel pretty dizzy. Can't remember a thing about last night, either. Did I get drunk?"

"You don't remember? You don't remember those two guys who offered us drinks and got talking to us?"

"Two guys? Ugh, the more I try to remember, the worse I feel."

"Well, try not to push yourself, okay? But let's just say our drinks got spiked, you fell unconscious and I carried you home."

"Wait, all by yourself? I find that hard to believe. And if our drinks got spiked, how come you're okay?"

"I didn't drink mine. I kind of got suspicious about it and spilled it on the floor, pretending it was an accident."

"Suspicious? Now that I think about it, I do remember arguing with you about something. That's about as much as I can recall. I can't even remember what that was about though."

"Hey, like I said- don't push yourself. Just stay there and get your strength back. I'll take care of you. You want a cooked breakfast? I'll put the oven on right now if you want."

"Yeah, thanks. Oh wait, hold on. Don't you have a job interview today?"

"Damn, that's right. No way I can leave you here as you are..."

Less than an hour later, Anna was washing up after the big breakfast she made Alice- not to mention the even bigger one she made herself- when the doorbell rang. She went downstairs and opened the door to Amy.

"Hi, Amy. Thanks for coming on short notice. I owe ya."

"Sure thing." said Amy. "So, what's this about Alice getting drugged or something?"

"It's as I told you over the phone." said Anna as she and Amy walked back up the stairs. "She's still not feeling one hundred percent, and I have to go out soon. I can't really leave her on her own right now, and Steve's probably still asleep from his late shift. So can you keep an eye on her until I get back, please?"

"No problem. Leave it to me."

Anna and Amy went into the living room to see Alice.

"Hi Amy." she said. "You doing okay?"

"Just fine." Amy replied. "Better than you from the looks of things. Anna told me everything. How you feeling now?"

"A little better, thanks. Don't want to push it right now, though. Most of last night is still pretty hazy."

"Are you going to the police about this?"

"I will be, yeah." said Anna. "I just need to finish washing up, then I'll be off."

"Huh? it's only eleven o'clock." said Alice. "Your interview isn't until two, and I wouldn't think it'd take that long to see the police. Why go now?"

"There's something else I need to check out..."



"So, you came to me instead of going to the police because...?"

Kelly looked at the water bottle containing the spiked lager from the previous night. Both she and Anna were standing in Kelly's workshop- in reality, just her garage which she modified into a workshop. Anna could see all sorts of strange gizmos and gadgets dotted around on various tables. She could tell this place was a mess. Since she hadn't seen the rest of Kelly's house, she hoped it was at least tidier than this place...

"Because I want to do a little investigating on my own. Something's up, and I want to know what."

"Right. And you think I have some kind of machine that can analyse the contents of this bottle and tell us what's in it?"

"Well... Do you?"

"Oddly enough, yes. I do."

Kelly walked over to another odd looking device which looked like a kitchen scale, except with a funnel rather than a scale, and it was attached to a mini monitor. She poured some of the lager into the funnel and pressed a button on the side of the device.

"Alright, that should only take a few minutes." she said as Anna picked up a container with a strange looking grey substance in it.

"This won't bite my finger off if I poke it, will it?"

"No, but it might just expand and cover you in a load of incapacitating goo. That's a little something I've been working on to help fight crime in the area without actually hurting anyone. It still hasn't been perfected, but I think it'll do a lot of good once it has."

Anna put down the container and looked at another one that contained a piece of fabric.

"What's this?"

"Ah. Now that's something I'm quite proud of. What you have there is a special material which combines the texture of materials like silk or cotton with the stretchiness of spandex. Let me put it this way- imagine if Bruce Banner was at a ball wearing a smart suit, made of this material. Then someone pissed him off and he became the Hulk. Instead of his nice new suit getting torn to shreds as he transforms, the suit stretches with him so it's fully intact even when he's the Hulk."

"And now I have the mental image of the Hulk wearing a tuxedo. Heh, I like that thought."

"Yeah. Unfortunately I haven't found a practical use for it yet. Maybe it could be good for pregnant women, but other than that I can't see it being very useful, which is a shame. However, I do have something which actually could be useful..."

Anna turned her attention to a medium sized backpack.

"And you're looking at it right now. Basically, you put your clothes in there, enough for up to three days, and then you zip it up and press the button on the side..."

Anna did as Kelly instructed. The backpack compressed itself into a smaller size.

"And that happens. It basically compresses everything inside like a vacuum pack, and you can carry it around with minimal weight. One problem though- it only works on clothes. I tried it with other objects, and they just broke. So if you want to take your Nintendo with you, you'll have to put it in one of the other pockets. I had hoped this would be useful for hikers who carry a lot of stuff with them, but that minor flaw kinda negates that. Still, it's useful for those who want to go on a weekend break. Say, why don't you take it with you? You might find it useful."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Besides, it'd make a good field test to see how it fares in the long term."

"Cool. Thanks!"

Anna took the backpack and threw it around her shoulder. Suddenly, a ping came from the device Kelly put the lager in. She looked at the screen, which now displayed a list of the lager's contents.

"Well?" said Anna.

"No wonder that stuff knocked Alice out cold." Kelly replied. "According to this, your sample contains traces of a chemical compound known as Neuro-Lite."

"Neuro-Lite? That sounds familiar..."

"It should. It was created as a sleeping aid for people with insomnia, but it was taken off the market because of a nasty side effect- it caused short term memory loss. Excessive use of it even caused serious brain damage and even death. The ones who died basically had their brains leaking out of their ears. There was a huge scandal about it, and it got banned."

"Yeah, I remember that. Having your brains leak out of your ears, though... Not the most pleasant way to go. But that's only after repeated doses, right? Alice'll be okay?"

"I think so. It seems she only had a small dose, so that won't cause anything permanent. But this leaves us with two things that I'm worried about- one, the thought of this stuff being used as a date rape drug, and two, where they even got this stuff in the first place? You can't get it anywhere anymore. I don't like it..."

"Personally, I don't care where they got it. I'm just worried those arseholes will strike again. Alice got lucky, but not everyone who meets them will be..."

"There is one other thing that make this drug so terrifying- it's hard to detect. You most likely won't know it's even in your drink until you drink it. Analysing it will reveal traces of it, but you won't be doing that in a pub, will you? I'm honestly surprised you were able to figure out your drink was spiked in the first place."

"I guess you could say I have a good nose for these things. But at least I have some idea what's going on now. I should have some solid evidence for the police, too. Thanks, Kel. I guess I owe both you and Amy now."

"Think nothing of it. So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to the police, then I have a job interview at two. Busier day than I wanted, but what can you do? In any case, thanks for your help."

"No worries. I'm always here if you need me."



Anna took a deep breath as she walked into the police station. She was feeling nervous, but couldn't quite figure out why. After all, she was only going to report the previous night's events. That should have been simple, surely? And yet, Anna couldn't help but feel uneasy. She walked to the main reception and saw a woman at the desk.

"Can I help you?" said the woman.

"Huh?" said Anna as she approached the desk. "O-oh. Oh, yeah. I, um... I want to report an incident that happened last night?"

"Of course. Can you tell us what happened?"

Anna quickly glanced at the back of the reception desk and saw a well dressed man with grey hair pouring out some coffee. However, she quickly looked back at the woman, knowing that she had more important things to focus on.

"Um, well... My- my friend and I were at the pub last night, and these two men started talking to us. They offered us some drinks, and shortly after my friend started acting funny. She looked like she was going to collapse, and then she lost consciousness. I think those men may have spiked our drinks."

"I see. Did they try anything else after your friend felt strange?"

"W-well, they did offer us a lift home, but I had a feeling they were up to something so I refused and carried my friend home myself."

Anna's words caught the attention of the man in the back.

"You're saying you carried your friend home on your own?" he said, seeming a little suspicious.

"Yeah." said Anna. "We don't live far from the pub in question, so it wasn't a problem. We got back before she became too heavy."

The man had walked to the front of the desk, and Anna saw he had a grey moustache.

"Alright. I'm interested to know more. Do you mind if we go to my desk? I'll be able to note the details down better from there."

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

The man asked the woman to let Anna through to the main station, where she saw plenty of desks with various police officers working on them. She was soon led to a desk further in the back, isolated from the others. The man sat down on his chair.

"Please, sit down, miss...?" said the man, gesturing at the chair opposite his.

"A-Anna. Anna Tyler." said Anna, sitting down.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm DCI Jason Cunningham. If you can tell me everything from the beginning, we'll take things from there. If you could, please?"

Anna told Cunningham everything that had happened the previous night, stopping only when he stopped her to try and press more details out of her. The only thing Anna left out of her story were how she figured out the drinks were spiked- knowing full well she wouldn't be believed if she said she'd literally sniffed it out. She also gave a description of the two men as best she could. All the while, Cunningham listened intently.

"So, you say you put some of your drink in a bottle?" he said at the end of Anna's statement.

"Yeah, I did. Here. Give it to your lab boys and they should be able to confirm what's in it." said Anna as she pulled out her water bottle and gave it to Cunningham.

"Thank you. We'll take a look at this as soon as possible. I'll also get a sketch artist to see if we can get an artist's impression of these men, but I'm afraid you’ll have to wait a few days on that one. Our artist has the weekend off, you see. But once we get it, we’ll be sure to make it public. In the meantime, we'll get some officers to the pub you were at last night to ask around, and maybe hit some other pubs in the area just in case they've been there as well. Does that sound alright?"

"Yes, it does. Thank you. I just hope you'll be able to catch them before they strike again."

"We'll certainly try. Thank you again for coming to us. We'll do what we can."

Cunningham held out his hand, and Anna shook it before getting out of her chair.

"Please do. I hate to think what could happen if these two aren't stopped. See you later."

Anna walked away, leaving Cunningham with her water bottle. As he watched her leave, he stopped a passing officer and handed him the bottle.

"Here, get this over to the lab. Have them take a look at it." he said.

"Sure." said the officer. "You think she's telling the truth?"

"I'm still not sure I buy that she carried her friend home by herself, but otherwise, I trust her. Having said that, I do feel she knew more than she let on..."



It was getting close to two 0' clock as Anna arrived at the costume shop. She thought back to her visit to the police station. She knew she had done all she could, but while Cunningham's words gave her some hope, a part of her couldn't help but worry that the police may ultimately come away empty handed. Nonetheless, she knew she had to put it behind her for now. She really needed to think about her new job.

"You know, I've only ever looked through the window of this place." she said as she stood outside the door. "I've never actually been inside. Should be interesting."

She walked inside the shop and looked around. There was only one other person on the shop floor at the moment, and it was neither Amanda nor Lucy. Just a customer. Anna took a look around to get a feel for her new workplace, and took the opportunity to take a closer look at the costumes for sale. They were exquisitely made, with plenty of attention to detail. Lucy clearly had a lot of talent. Anna could only wonder how she had the time to make them. Soon, her eyes drifted to a particular piece for sale- an outfit marked as a ninja costume, though it looked more like something a ninja would only wear in a video game or an anime. It was effectively a form fitting fishnet leotard with a magenta bikini sewn in, with a fairly long piece of cloth with a flower motif attached on both ends of the bottom. It may have looked improbably revealing, but Anna really liked the design.

"Wow... What a sexy outfit. Wonder how I'd look in it?"

"That one's a little big for you, I'm afraid." said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see Amanda. "Perhaps it might fit better in your... other state. Or you could ask Lucy to do a custom one your size. She can do that, too."

"Custom orders, huh? Ah, never mind. I'm not THAT interested in it."

"Sure you’re not..." Amanda replied sarcastically. "Anyway, glad you could make it. Hows your day been?"

"Busy, to say the least. You?"

"Not bad, thanks. It's been a little quiet today, so I can actually relax a little. Lucy's been pretty hard at work, though. Always working on new projects..."

At that point, Lucy came in from the back room.

"Anna! Thanks for coming." she said. "I'm glad you accepted our offer."

"Well, I haven't had any other luck in the jobs department, so I couldn't say no, really." Anna replied. "I must say though, these costumes are amazing. Though I can only wonder who buys them..."

"You'd be surprised. People looking to spice things up in the bedroom, or who want to stand out at fancy dress parties. A fair few cosplayers too, of course. Anyway, I'll show you around and let you in on what you'll be doing."

Lucy took Anna around the whole shop, from the back room to the sewing room where Lucy made the majority of her dresses. As she did so, she told Anna her tasks. She would be helping with cleaning, writing out price tags, stacking the material shelves as well as greeting and helping customers.

"So, there you go." said Lucy. "We open at nine o'clock every day, but you're expected to show up at half past eight. You'll have forty minutes for lunch, which we have at midday. We close at five o'clock, but you'll properly finish at half past five as we want to to leave the shop in decent nick for the next day. Although we're open seven days a week, your shift is only Monday to Friday. However, if you ever want to do overtime that's just fine. Just let me know beforehand. Oh yes, we listen to Absolute Radio here. Is that okay with you?"

"As long as it isn't Heart, I'm not picky." said Anna.

"Right then. I think that's everything you need to know. Welcome to the team! I hope you'll prove to be a good hard worker."

Lucy held out her hand and Anna shook it.

"I didn't have any complaints from my previous job, so I must have been doing something right. Thank you so much for giving me this chance. So, I'll see you on Monday then."

"Yup, see you then."

Lucy waved Anna goodbye as she left the back room. She made a slight fist pump in celebration of her new job, and then decided to take one more look at the ninja costume she saw earlier. She really liked it. As she admired it some more, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hi Anna!" It was Poppy, who was standing there with Kisa.

"Oh, hi Poppy. Hi, Kisa."

"We weren't expecting to see you here." said Kisa. "Eyeing up something saucy for your boyfriend?"

"I don't have one, as it goes. Actually, I was here for a job interview. From Monday I'll be working here!"

"Really? That's awesome!" said Poppy. "I knew you'd find something eventually. Ooo, that looks rather nice..."

Poppy's attention immediately turned to an elegant looking dress. As she looked at it, Kisa chatted some more.

"Congratulations. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more if you if you're working here now!"

"So this is a regular spot for you?"

"Yeah. Poppy's always looking for new outfits for me for my photoshoots, and this is probably the best place to look."

"Poppy always chooses your outfits?"

"Well, I approve them when she shows them to me. She always picks great stuff, though. She has a real eye for these things."

"Hey, how about this one?" said Poppy, holding a sexy piece of lingerie. "I'd say it suits you."

"Ooo, yes! Definitely go with that one!" Kisa replied.

"Okay. It's thirty pounds, will that be okay?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll pay the full price for this one. Don't knock yourself out."

"You don't mind?"

"I have the money, and this is for me. I already told you I don't want you spending money on me."

"I guess you're right. Here you go."

Poppy handed Kisa the outfit and went digging around for some more outfits.

"She's a lovely girl, but I dare say a little too generous. I worry that someone'll take advantage of her someday..."

"Yeah, she does seem very outgoing. So, tell me. When's your next photoshoot?"

"I have one later this afternoon, funnily enough. Then we'll both be going out for drinks afterwards. Hey, I know! Why don't you and Alice join us? We can celebrate your new job!"

"Thanks for the offer, but we went to the pub last night. I think we've had enough for now."

Suddenly, a thought popped into Anna's head.

"Oh, wait! Kisa, if you're both going out for drinks tonight, I should warn you. If you meet an Indian bloke with a white guy offering you drinks and being a bit too friendly, stay the hell away from them. We met them yesterday, and they're bad news."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. If you do meet them, then whatever you do don't accept anything they offer you. Just tell them to get lost, okay?"

"Alright. Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful."



Despite the events of the last twenty four hours, Anna was feeling on top of the world. She finally had a job! All she wanted now was for Alice to get one too. Maybe if the police could catch the two men who tried to drug them last night, things would get even better. Anna wasn't holding her breath over that though. She also had to think about the next full moon, which was now a day away. For now though, she had returned home and was hoping Alice would be feeling better. She opened the front door and walked in to random chatter from upstairs. She went up to the living room to see Alice- who was now looking a lot perkier- chatting to both Amy and Steve.

"Oh, hi Steve. When did you get here?" said Anna.

"Not too long ago. Amy called and told me what happened. I can't believe anyone would do that to Alice..."

"Yeah. I had Kelly check out a sample of the drink I was given, and it was spiked with something called Neuro-Lite. Basically a knockout drug that also causes short term memory loss."

"Damn." said Amy. "Knocks someone out quickly, and then they can't remember what their attacker looks like... Sounds like an ideal date rape drug..."

"Exactly." Anna replied. "I went to the police about it, and they said they would do what they could. All we can do now is hope. Anyway, how are you feeling now, Alice?"

"Much better, thanks. Still can't remember a huge amount of what happened last night, but I'm feeling fit again."

"That's good. Probably best not to overdo it though."

"I won't. Oh, how did your interview go, by the way?"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that, too." said Steve. "At that costume shop, right?"

"Yup!" said Anna. "And I got it! From Monday, I'm working again!"

"That's awesome!" said Alice, jumping up from the sofa and giving Anna a hug. Amy followed suit.

"Congrats, Anna." she said. "I'm so glad you were able to find something!"

"Good going." said Steve. "You deserve it."

"Thanks, guys." said Anna. "I'm just happy to be working again. Oh, and just so you know, Lucy invited me to dinner tomorrow night. It's mainly as a welcome thing. Probably won't be home until late, though. Lucy and Amanda do like to stay out for quite some time..."

Anna had made that excuse up as she was heading home, knowing it was a decent excuse to be out the next day when the next full moon rose up.

"Okay." Alice replied. "I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, Steve. How'd you and Amy like to stay over for the night? I've got a few dinner recipes I've been dying to try out."

"Sounds great! I'd love to stay." said Steve. "You, Amy?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me." said Amy.

"Cool. I'll get started at about five, then."

"Hold on, Alice." said Anna. "You say you're feeling better, but it might be best to let me help in the kitchen, just in case. Don't want you having an accident."

"Sure, I don't mind."

Alice loved to cook, and was pretty decent at it. It was her who often prepared dinner in the house, and she was always on the lookout for new recipes to try out. That night, with Anna's help, she made a big chicken and leek pie for everyone, which went down well. Anna and her friends spent the rest of the night, chatting, laughing and playing video games, putting the nightmarish events of the previous night behind them...



Meanwhile, Kisa and Poppy were at The Admiral & the Siren, a rather fancier pub than the one Anna and Alice were at the previous night. They were here with some of Kisa's fellow glamour models, all of whom had just come from the same photoshoot she had. Kisa had gone to the counter to order a round of drinks for everyone when suddenly, a glass of beer was placed in front of her.

"Well, well. Not every day you get to treat the lovely Kisa Justine to a drink!"

Kisa turned to see two men standing there. An Indian man with a Caucasian man, just as Anna had warned her about.

"Uh... And today isn't that day, boys." she said. "Takes a lot more than a free beer to impress me."

"Aww, come on." said James. "We're sure you'll change your tune once you've chatted with us a little..."

"Sorry, but no. I'm just here to get some drinks for my party, not to chat to random people. If you're hoping to pull tonight, you'll have to find someone else. Goodbye."

Kisa shooed them away and they obliged.

"Bloody hell, famous people are a bit full of themselves, aren't they?" said Trevor as they left.

"Phew. Close one." said Kisa as the bartender handed her a tray of drinks.

"Anything else?" said the bartender.

"Yeah. If you could pour that beer down the sink, that'd be great thanks." Kisa replied, pointing to the glass James had given her. She didn't know if it was safe or not, but she wasn't taking any chances.

As the night went on, Kisa spent her time chatting and laughing with her friends, as well as having the odd drink. As it approached midnight, she decided it was time to leave. After saying her goodbyes, she put on her coat and was about to head for the exit when she noticed something.

"Hold on, where's Poppy? I haven't seen her since I got here..."



Anna woke up the next morning with a certain sense of anticipation. Tonight would be her second full moon, and her second proper night as a werewolf. She still wasn't one hundred percent sure on what to do, but it was looking increasingly likely she'd be spending her time with Amanda and Lucy. Either way, she was looking forward to it. Now that she knew what to expect, it didn't scare her at all. She made her way downstairs and saw Steve fast asleep in the living room sofa. With Amy asleep in the spare bedroom, it seemed the sofa was the only place Steve had to sleep on. Anna smiled and turned the TV on, which woke Steve up.

"Geez, do you mind Anna?" he said grumpily.

"Good morning to you too." said Anna, with a cheeky grin on her face. As she turned over to the news, Alice and Amy came downstairs too.

"Morning all."

"Morning, ladies." said Anna. "How are you feeling now, Alice?"

"The same as last night. Fighting fit, but I still can't remember much about that night. Just you and I having that argument, and even that's really hazy."

"Well, it's better than how you were before. Maybe see a doctor and make certain you're fine?"

Suddenly, Anna's phone rang.

"What's up, Anna?" said Steve.

"It's Kisa." Anna replied, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Anna." said Kisa, sounding rather frantic. "I-is Poppy there with you?"

"No, I haven't seen her since we were at the costume shop. Is something wrong?"

"Dammit... She went missing last night. I'd hoped she just went home without me, so I waited until this morning. But then I went to her house and there was no answer. She wasn't there."

"You sure? She might have just been asleep."

"No, she's always up and about at this time. Then I tried calling her, and I got no answer. Something's happened to her, I can feel it... Shit, why didn't I keep an eye on her?"

"Calm down, Keese. We'll figure this out. Are you sure she was with you last night?"

"Yeah, we both went to the pub together. Only... There is something... Oh no, please tell me she didn't..."

"What is it?"

"Um... Those two men you warned me about yesterday? I met them last night. I told them to go away and I didn't see them after that. But I didn't see Poppy either, which makes me think..."

Anna's heart sank. If what Kisa said was true, then it was entirely possible Poppy had run into James and Trevor. And if Anna and Alice's experience with them was anything to go by, that meant Poppy could have been in serious trouble...