shown nor called. I checked the office to see if she’d forgotten to pick me up and gone in without me. The answering machine greeted me instead of Jen’s cheerful voice. Frowning, I called Sara’s cell next, my concern deepening as the call went straight to voice mail—which was completely full and wouldn’t accept any new messages.
Not wanting to deal with what that might mean, I tossed the phone down and headed for the shower. That should help me wake up a bit. Perhaps Sara’s phone would be turned back on after I got out.
Twenty minutes later, I was clean, refreshed, and didn’t look quite so much like I’d just risen from the dead. My temper wasn’t improved, but that was par for the course.
When I stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Sara was sitting on my bed, gray faced. She looked as bad as I felt; her blond hair, normally salon-straight and perfectly coiffed, was tangled and unbrushed. Her clear blue eyes were bloodshot, while her skin had taken on an ashen pallor under the late summer tan. Even her clothes, usually perfectly pressed, were rumpled, the buttons on her shirt done up unevenly.
“Jesus, Sara, you look like shit.”
What would normally have gotten a similar crack out of her didn’t come off quite as I’d expected. She burst into tears.
“Holy hell, what’s wrong?!” I rushed forward, but she held up a hand to stop me, wiping at her eyes with the other. She still didn’t say anything. Frustrated, I backtracked, grabbed a box of tissues from the bathroom, and settled down beside her on the bed. As she took one of the tissues I offered, I noticed the papers crumpling up under my butt; I’d sat down on a newspaper.
I rose just enough to pull the papers from under me, staring at the headline screaming off the first page of today’s news.
NEW YORK’S WEREWOLVES DON’T PLAY
BY THE RULES
By JIM PRADIZ
MANHATTAN (Oct. 6) – A dangerous trend has surfaced in New York’s werewolf community. Local packs have come under intense scrutiny by government-funded regulatory bodies; recent investigations into the actions of the Sunstriker and Ravenwood packs have produced evidence that some of these werewolves don’t adhere to federal guidelines of gaining signed authorization from their victims prior to exposure to the lycanthropy virus.
Evidence is mounting that many of these werewolves have chosen to work outside the bounds of the required contracts that legalize intimate contact between humans and Others. When the Other-Citizen Amendment to the Constitution, Article XIV-1(B), was passed on November 12, 2001, it was determined that no intimate physical contact would be permitted between Others and any human who had not yet signed and filed an agreement giving their full consent to potential injury or death at the hands of their Other-citizen sponsor.
It has become apparent that New York’s werewolves do not always honor this legal requirement. Instances have been documented of some of these creatures having potentially infected and even turned humans without a legally signed and filed contract in place.
Deputy Chief of Police Alberto Rodriguez made a statement regarding the accusations. “We have received reports of unlawful activity in the Other community. Rest assured, this situation is under investigation. All I can say at this point is that anyone considering friendship or close connection to an Other-citizen should be very wary of the potential consequences.”
Calls for comment to the leaders of the Sunstrikers and Ravenwoods have not been returned. Rohrik Donovan, leader of the Moonwalkers and lauded for his involvement in Other-citizen rights activities, refused to comment. Donovan is best known for his work to spearhead progressive changes for Other-citizens to help them be more accepted by our society.
This reporter has found in the process of undercover investigation information that victims of potential or confirmed infection outside of a contract include:
• Trish Booker, the CEO of Fortune 5,000 company Gen-U-Con, Inc.;
• Reed Thompson, a student at NYU;
• Ethan Peyton, an EMT;
• Patrick Driscoll, an attorney;
• Aurora Vacchio, an actress; and
• Shiarra Waynest, local private investigator.
(See photo spread, next page.)
Deputy Chief Rodriguez confirmed that there may be other victims based on witness statements and evidence at hand, but that no arrests have yet been made. Several suspects have been detained for questioning.
Per public records, Waynest and Booker were contractually bound to vampire Alec Royce prior to exposure to lycanthropy infection. No records were found of contracts lawfully filed involving the victims and the werewolves identified in the incidents, or documentation indicating a connection with