Page 23 of A Brighter Yellow
Anna slammed through the back door and onto the lawn, inhaling a deep breath of fresh air, away from the stink of the man that had been all over Charlie’s house.
“Anna!” barked Ochre, coming out after her. “Anna, would you slow down.”
“Look, obviously this is a problem I can deal with,” said Anna. “You can go.”
“What the fuck?” demanded Ochre, looking pissed.
“It’s not warlocks. I’m going to go to Charlie’s work, and if she’s not there, then I’ll file a police report. I don’t need you to do that.” She’d already taken up enough of his time and resources. She wanted to be clear that she hadn’t intended to waste his time. And once he was gone she could hunt down whoever had hurt Charlie.
“Wewill go to Charlie’s work,” retorted Ochre. “I’m not going anywhere until we find her.”
And now he was snapping at her. Anna wanted to howl in frustration.
“Fine,” she said.
“Fine,” he agreed and headed for the green belt again. Anna followed because she didn’t know what else to do.
This time when they entered the woods, the light was darker, the trees seemed to flicker more, and the branches seemed to reach out for her. Anna would have put it down to her imagination, but she suspected that it was more due to Ochre’s mood.
Episode 12
Charlie’s Office
Anna
At the house, Anna had been certain that she’d dragged Ochre into a stalker case that she could solve with her eyes closed. All she had to do was go to Charlie’s work, make sure Charlie was OK— because Charlie had to be OK—find her stalker and then beat the shit out of him. Only now they were at Charlie’s workplace, and it looked very… science-y and professional. Anna really wasn’t prepared for science stuff. Probably no wolf was—the Supernatural community was almost universally anti-science—but Charlie never made her feel bad about it. But the moment, it was the professional portion of Charlie’s life that was worrying Anna. She’d only visited Charlie after-hours when it was just the two of them goofing around. Anna had never bothered to get a job after college, and she felt like she’d missed her window of opportunity. Every time she talked to her friends from college she felt a distinct sense of judgement that she wasn’t a professional something. It was starting to get awkward that she didn’t know how to blend in with humans that weren’t doing farm-related things.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Well, you can stand there and sniff the breezes if you want,” said Ochre, “but that doesn’t do me a lot of good so I’m going to try doing things the normal way.”
“Hey, wait,” she said, hurrying after him. “You’re carrying a bow. They’re going to notice!”
“What bow?” he asked and made a gesture at himself. Anna blinked as his pack and bow suddenly seemed to be… not there. She paused in confusion. Her nose said they were still there, but her eyes said no. She shook her head in frustration and more than a little bit of awe. Not that she would admit that to him. She’d never known anyone who could just wave a hand and make magic happen like that. Everyone she knew had to have rituals and words.
“Would you wait?” she exclaimed, hurrying after him.
He did not wait, and he didn’t even hold the door open for her, which left her scrambling to catch the door or slide through at the last second. She finally caught up to him and shot him an angry glare. He gave her squinty side-eye back, which was so clearly wolf forsuck itthat she sneezed in surprise. It really weirded her out when he spoke wolf at her.
“Hi,” he said, approaching the girl at the front desk. “I’m Dr. Ochre Lucas. I was hoping to speak with Dr. Charlotte Peters.”
“Oh,” said the secretary, who smiled at Ochre like he was some sort of gorgeous hunk straight off a calendar page. Which, of course, he was, but Anna didn’t think the girl needed to telegraph it that broadly. “Just a minute, let me check if she’s here.”
“Thanks,” he said, smiling kindly.
Ochre backed up a few steps away, letting the secretary make her phone calls in peace, and Anna tried to think of something to say.
“I didn’t know she had a stalker,” said Anna. “She never said anything.”
“OK,” said Ochre.
“What does that mean?” Anna asked, frowning.
“It means, OK, I accept your statement as fact.”
“So stop being mad then,” she demanded, trying to keep her voice down.
“That’s not why I’m mad,” he said.
