“Don’t tempt me, my dear, don’t tempt me,” he answered with a tone that almost sounded like a tease. “Lily, I have a proposition for you,” he told her and she scrunched her brow, wondering what he could possibly want from her.
“I thought you were only another stupid human and wannabe werewolf, but I have to say these last couple of days I see you are so much more… interesting. You know, an artist always likes to hear what others think of his work. Since you are the forensic chemist after all, I would love to hear your opinion on my work. I realize you still have tests you want to perform so I will give you until tomorrow to finish,” he told her.
“As much as I would love to talk about your work, I’m afraid I can’t play along since you so quickly took away the pills I had in hand,” she said with a bittersweet voice.
“Now Lily, do you really think I would have gotten this far if I wasn’t more astute than that? I know you were smart enough not to store all the pills in one place so you can, and will continue,” he told her pointedly.
“No, I don’t want to play this sick game with you, Dr. Frankenstein,” she told him, hanging up. She stared at the silent phone with a bad taste in her mouth. She jumped slightly as the phone began to ring again. She debated whether to pick it up or not. She sighed and finally picked it up.
“Now that was rude Lily,” he stated with irritation.
“I don’t really care,” she shot back.
“Well then, that’s bad news for your friend Lacy,” he replied with cool, cold calm.
Lily rolled her eyes with a sarcastic nod, “You can’t do anything to her; she’s the alpha’s daughter and always has some enforcer around her!”
“Lily, I honestly don’t care whose daughter she is, I am not afraid of the alpha. If I want to use her as my little play thing, I can, and no one would be able to stop me. If you don’t play along I will use her for the next phase of my experiment, but she isn’t James and I don’t think she would survive the process,” he explained keeping his calm tone.
Lily balled her fist in anger, why was this freak dragging her into this game a cat and mouse? “Fine, you win… this round,” she relented, not willing to risk the life of her friend. She swore she could feel him gloating.
“Now that’s a good girl. All you have to do is continue with what you were doing already. I will call tomorrow evening to see what you have learned,” he stated and Lily wanted nothing more than to strangle him.
“Why do you even care what I think?” She asked bitterly, feeling like she was missing pieces in this whole jigsaw puzzle.
“Don’t flatter yourself my dear. It’s more curiosity than actually caring, you are showing promising signs. If you please me, then I will reward you if not… well let’s not make that an option shall we. Now get yourself cleaned up and to work, the clock is ticking!” He finished and hung up.
Tossing the phone down Lily started to wonder if she had begun to wade into waters too deep for her, not that she would ever admit it to anyone. After what happened with Andrew yesterday she wasn’t about to go crawling to him, telling him that he was probably right. “No,” she told herself getting up, “I can handle this. I don’t need anyone’s help!” She dressed quickly and ate a meager breakfast, as she was too nervous to eat more then went to the University to do just what Dr. Frankenstein wanted her to do.
The ringing of a cell phone caused Lily to slowly lift her head up from the keyboard where she’d fallen asleep. She rubbed her keyboard imprinted face, hoping to wake herself up some. She had spent the last two days examining the pills she had hidden at her home. She had learned quite a bit, using her own blood as a sample to test the effects of the drug. She didn’t have James blood to compare it with, which would have given better results.
The truth was she didn’t even ask him because she avoided any and all contact with the werewolves. Lily felt angry at her father and embarrassed that not only did her family, the doctor, and James overhear their fight but thanks to Lacy’s big mouth, the whole pack knew of it. Her phone continued to vibrate along the table and she answered it, croaking out a rough greeting.
“I’m glad to see you’re working hard Lily, so please tell me what you have learned?” the mechanical voice asked. She sighed, hating the feeling of being manipulated.
“Well, the drug is a stimulant, that’s for sure,” she started and he made a sound of approval. “However, it would take me weeks to figure out all the details that this substance entitles, if not longer. You have created one of the most complex drugs I have seen in my entire life. I am guessing the pills are your attempt to create a more passive manner of doing what you did to James Lacrosse, but from what I can tell it doesn’t work. The tests I have done on my own blood shows that the pills formula is too volatile. It not only changes the genetic code but ends up destroying it; at least that is how it appears. I am only beginning to study pathology, so I can really only guess on that part,” she explained and she heard him clapping.
“Bravo Lily, bravo. I don’t know how I didn’t see it earlier,” he told her, making her feel worse than she already felt. “You are brave, attractive and intelligent! I believe you are perfect for the next phase of my plan.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Lily replied hastily, feeling her stomach clenched violently at his words.
“I am afraid this isn’t negotiable Lily,” he replied and she felt really sick.
“What exactly is this phase Dr. Frankenstein?” she asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
“Quite simple, Lily, in nature there must always be a counterpart. Night and day, summer and winter… male and female,” he explained then hung up. He couldn’t possibly mean that he wanted to make her… like, James? But that was impossible; James had always been a werewolf and was then changed into… well, whatever he was now. Lily was human and unless she was with a werewolf, there was no way she could become a lycanthrope. She swallowed with difficulty as she placed her cell back to her pocket. As a human, she would never survive what he’d done to James. Hell, he said even Lacy wouldn’t survive!
“Maybe he’s just bluffing,” she told herself as she got up from the large desk. “I can handle this; I don’t need anyone’s help. He is just bluffing,” she continued to tell herself, walking out of the small laboratory. Lily looked around nervously and held onto her jacket tightly, looking frantically around the darkened parking lot, fearing the masked werewolf would be waiting in the shadows for her.
The next morning, just as she was about to make her morning coffee, someone knocked on the door. She tightened her ponytail and opened the door. “May I help you?” she asked the unfamiliar man suspiciously before her.
He shot her a bright smile. “The alpha sent me, I am Greg,” he told her and held out his hand. A huge sense of relief washed over her. Lily had hardly slept last night; she jumped at every little sound and had terrible nightmares about monstrous werewolves. She feigned a frown as she took his hand, she didn’t want anyone to see her worry.