Samantha Twist wasn’t in her office like she said she would be. It was a holiday, and the Town Hall was closed. And she didn’t have a key to open the building. So instead, she circle the town in her car a few times before ending up at the lake’s edge.
She sat there, a slight breeze sending chills through her body. Samantha hugged her coat closer to her body and sighed.
“Why am I letting this get to me so much? What the heck is wrong with me?” she thought.
Frances was probably wondering where she was. Samantha considered walking back to the house when she heard someone approaching. She looked over her shoulder to see two figures, one much taller than the other, holding hands and laughing. She smiled when she saw it was Eric and Spencer coming down the path.
The two had finished their breakfast, and decided that before they did anything further, Eric should get another pair of pants and underwear. Maybe ten more. And it wouldn’t hurt to check in with the adults.
“Oh, hi Samantha.” Eric said.
He was obviously surprised to see her. Spencer waved to Samantha, remaining hidden in the trees since she technically wasn’t supposed to be seen out and about in her were form. Neither was expecting to see anyone, let alone Samantha Twist. They assumed she’d be with their parents.
“Don’t mind me you two, I’m just thinking.” Samantha said.
“Okay. Are you alright?” Eric asked. She really did look troubled. By what he couldn’t say. But here she was alone, looking depressed, and noticeably without Frances. Which was odd since they were usually joined at the hip, except for work.
“I guess. Don’t lose any sleep over it. Are you going back to your house Eric?”
“Ya. Do you want to come back with us or…?”
“You go ahead. Tell them I’ll be back in a few minutes. And tell Frances I’d like to talk to her in private.” Samantha said.
Spencer and Eric exchanged a look but continued on. Once far enough away, Eric asked if they should just leave Samantha there.
“In my experience, sometimes it’s just better to leave someone alone. I wonder what happened between her and Frances though. Some kind of fight obviously, but why?” Spencer wondered.
“Maybe our parents will know.” Eric said. He slipped his hand back into Spencer’s, and then pulled her back towards him. Spencer smiled, and licked his cheek before continuing.
--------------------------------------------------------
“No sorry Dr. Twist. If I see her I’ll let you know.”
Frances had gone to Samantha’s office, only to find that Samantha wasn’t there. She’d asked around if Samantha had been there, but they all had the same answer. No.
“Where could she have gone?” Frances wondered. Back to there house? No, Ben would have called then. Unless he wasn’t there. Maybe to the Andersons? Unlikely, she probably wanted some alone time. So then where could Samantha have disappeared to?
Frances spent a good ten minutes sitting in her car wondering where she might find her wife. Parked on the side of the street with her head down, she missed the black sedan driving into town. Sean Walker eyed everything around him with suspicion.
“Mafia? A cult? What?” he thought. He’d come up with dozens of theories, but none were even close to the truth.
As Walker rounded a corner, Frances decided to look for Samantha around town before going home. And if she remained missing, she’d let the others know. There wasn’t any reason to call the police, she knew four very capable werewolves. Evan Lawson should have no trouble tracking Samantha if it came to that. And Nate, Ben and Alex were certainly good enough to assist.
“Talk to me Samantha, what’s wrong?” Frances muttered to herself. Her phone sat in the passenger seat, waiting and waiting for Samantha to return her calls. But Samantha had left her phone at home.
--------------------------------------------------------
Back at the Anderson house…
The four adults were enjoying breakfast when Spencer and Eric knocked at the back door. William got up to let them in. He smelled something on Eric, but a second sniff confirmed he was still normal. But that hadn’t stopped the two from some foreplay. Spencer smelled very similar, as did Eric’s backpack. William wondered what was inside.
“You kids need anything to eat? We’ve got plenty of food. Trust me.” William looked over his shoulder at the breakfast explosion in the kitchen. Their refrigerator was already overflowing, and they’d needed to make room. So Martha decided to cook anything she could for breakfast.
“No thank you. Eric already cooked us breakfast.” Spencer said, something of a lilt in her voice as she spoke. Her parents heard, and exchanged a look. They’d never heard Spencer make that sound before. She wasn’t the type to fall to pieces over a guy. Well, before Eric she hadn’t been.
“I’m going to go grab some clean…uh some more clothes. Be right back,” Eric stopped himself before he said “underwear” because that would cause a few eyebrows to be raised. As it was, Spencer blushed as Eric sped upstairs.
“Spencer…” her mother started.
“Don’t worry Mom, we didn’t do anything. Eric’s still the same as he was last night.” Spencer said.
“Didn’t do anything, right.” Evan laughed internally. It was quite clear the two HAD done something. His imagination ran wild with possibilities. But more of his mind was focused on his father at the moment, and he asked Spencer how he was.
“Oh, good. He, uh, went house hunting.” Spencer said, knowing her dad would react badly. How badly, she couldn’t say. Evan blinked, said a very flat, “Ok”, and started to angrily cut his bacon and eggs.
“He’s a grown man Evan. He can do what he wants.” Maggie reminded her husband.
“So you keep telling me. But let’s see how you react when your parents decide to move back to town.”
“If that day ever comes, we’ll be moving.”
“Bit of an OVERREACTION don’t you think?” Evan chided.
“Oh shut up.”