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.There werethree of them standing over me.One guy had the stun gun, oneguy had a video camera, and the third guy had something like asmall welding torch.”“Fuck.” It was a breathed comment from somewhere behindme.Simon’s grin was crooked, but real.“Yeah, that’s about whatI thought.Especially when I realized I was naked.Anyway, theyexplained it to me.They knew I was a werewolf.It was a full-moon night.The cuffs were sized for humans.They would slip offif I changed into a wolf.” He laughed bitterly and then coughed.“They didn’t really want to hurt me, you see.If I would be agood boy and show them how it was done, I could avoid beingbarbequed.”“What did you say?” I asked softly.“I told them they were nuts.” Simon’s face twisted withremembered pain.“I told them there were no such things aswerewolves.They brought over the camera and showed me videothey had of one of us shifting.”Unexpected demands 219Over the rustle of voices around me I asked, “Are you sure itwas real?”“Not one hundred percent,” he rasped.“I didn’t recognize theman or wolf.But it looked real.The shift progression was right,the timing was about average, slower than you, faster than David.The wolf looked right, no stupid claws or fangs, and sized rightfor the man.What they showed me was the inside of a house,a kitchen.A grey wolf nosed its way in through the back door,pushed it shut, lay down on the kitchen floor, and shifted intoa man with dark hair, not too tall.He got up, put on a pair ofsweats, and began to cook dinner.It looked fucking real.” Helaughed hoarsely.“I told them I’d seen better special effects onBuffy the Vampire Slayer.Then they got creative with the blowtorch.”“Simon.” Paul touched his cheek with an unsteady hand.“Hey, it’s okay.” Simon turned his head to look at him.“Itwas…bad, but I’m okay.And the funny part is, that room musthave had fucking steel walls because I couldn’t have shifted if Iwanted to.Stupid bastards.” He looked back at me.“After a while, I guess they decided that approach wasn’t going to work.Theygave me another shot.I passed out.Next thing, I was in a cage,lined with silver.I hope it cost them a damned fortune.They took samples; blood, skin, hair, saliva, the works.” He looked up at me, anguish in his eyes.“I couldn’t stop them, Aaron.I don’t knowwhat they did with the stuff.I’m sorry.”“Not your fault,” I told him firmly.“Anyway I think we got ortorched all of their samples.Go on.”Simon closed his eyes for a moment in relief.“God, I hopeyou did get it all.That would be…that would be great.Well, thenthey began more experiments.They were freaking disappointedtoo.They touched me with silver and copper and God knowswhat other metals, and then the vampire stuff, garlic and crossesand what was probably holy water.And a bunch of herbs andplants.When nothing made my skin react or burn they made220 Kaje Harperlittle notes.Then they went back to old-fashioned methods forthe question part.”“What questions?”Simon rolled his head back and forth, eyes still closed.“Whoelse was a werewolf? They had a list of names from work, a coupleof old friends, Paul, his relief vet, the members of my bowlingteam from two years ago.” He stilled and looked up at me.“Nowomen, so they may know that we’re all male, but they weremissing a lot of the men I know.I don’t think they researched mein real depth before they grabbed me.”“Good.”He nodded, and slid his eyes away from me.“Anyway, theykept up the questions for a while.What does it take to shift into a wolf? How are werewolves made? If I bit one of them, wouldhe become a wolf? What if my saliva was injected into a human?Did I have a pack? How old was I? Shit like that.The oldest guy,he liked fire a lot.He had a…no, never mind, not important.Istopped answering anything.Easier to say nothing at all than toremember to say the right things.I passed out a couple of times,and I think they drugged me at least once.Next thing I knew Iwas here.”“You said three men were in the room with you,” I said.“Wasthere anyone else you saw in the building?”“Not that I saw,” Simon said.“But once, the short guy hadbeen out of the room and when he came back in he said Riderwanted an update.Or maybe it was ‘the rider.’ But all three ofthem were there, so this Rider had to be a fourth guy.”“Or woman?”His forehead furrowed as he thought back.“I guess.I don’tthink they said either way.”“No clue if this Rider was actually there in the building or onthe phone or whatever?”“No
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