Chapter Four

It had been a day since I was freed from the shackles that bound me to my hell. So much for my plan of leaving New York. I had no idea how I was going to do this. Even if I wanted to harm Isaac it was nearly impossible. If I killed him in his sleep, it would raise questions, but if I were to make it look like an accident, there would be even more questions. Isaac was isolated but connected to the community in a way where there would be too many people trying to pry into his death and I couldn't have that. Maybe I could make it look like he ran away. Who am I kidding? I wasn't a killer; I didn't have that bone in my body, but I had to try for the sake of Hayes and Collier. From the time I spent with Isaac as a coyote, he had connections and people who checked in on him, it would be far too suspicious if he suddenly disappeared. After pondering for what felt like hours, I finally figured it out. I knew what I had to do.

I realized I was still in Isaac's hoodie and boxers; I needed clothes to blend in. I traveled back to my family's home and entered. The memory of Collier collapsing and me running for my life played through my mind. I searched through the mess I made and found some suitable clothes. I had worn black ripped jeans and a mouse gray t-shirt that had a black smiley face on it. After getting dressed, I had a sudden wave of exhaustion rush over me. I was still woozy from the sedation and rosewood to function anymore. I lay on the cold floor to rest my head for a couple of hours before I was woken by the sound of arguing around 4 pm.

"I don't care, Carly! You kissed Samuel and you knew I liked him!" I groaned softly and rubbed my eyes. Getting off the tile floor, I headed to the window and saw two women outside. One had long black hair and blue eyes while the other girl had auburn hair and hazel eyes. Fairly fit but I could smell the anger despite the house barricading us apart.

"I didn't mean to! I was drunk and having fun and he made a move on me, Vanessa! It's not my fault. Maybe if you weren't such an uptight asshole about everything you could've gotten in on that, it's not my fault he wanted to kiss me."

"You had Isaac, why did you have to go after the one guy I liked, Carly? The one guy that was taking interest in me? I didn't like Isaac as you did. Our friendship is done. I can't be around someone who doesn't respect my wishes. You broke the girl code." The girl with raven black hair rolled her eyes, scoffed then left the fiery-haired girl. I seized the opportunity to get closer to the girl who had her heart shattered, she'd known Isaac and that was exactly what I needed. Stepping out of my house, I looked at the girl and tilted my head. I had a role to play.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude but are you okay? I live here and it sounded kind of tense?" The auburn-haired girl looked up at me and shrugged.

"Betrayal is even more so disappointing when it comes from someone you grew up with."

"I'm Vanessa Westerson, I live next door. I'm surprised someone bought this place, it's been abandoned for ages, and no one has been around to look after it." I forced a laugh before smiling.

"Yeah, it's something else. I just moved here and didn't mind that it needed a little fixing. I'm Makenzie Miller." I had stolen Adrian's last name and used the name I gave Isaac to fit the pieces of the story a little better. I didn't need any gaps or questions being asked.

"Oh, cool. Hey, did you want to come inside and have a beer?" I could tell she was fighting the urge to cry so I obliged. I needed to seem friendly and welcoming for my plan to work. She needed to see me as a friend.

"Yeah, of course." I followed her to her house and sat down at her kitchen table. She had a warm and welcoming home with old but bohemian furniture. She cracked open two beers and handed me one. Truth be told I hated beer, but I needed something to ease my stress. After just one beer, Vanessa was slightly buzzed.

"I can't believe she did that to me." she slurred.

"She was supposed to be my best friend and she knew I liked that guy. What a bitch." Opening another beer, she flopped onto her couch and huffed.

"You're really pretty, Mackenzie. What made you decide to move here?"

"Oh, thank you. I just needed a change of scenery. I decided San Diego was a decent place." She laughed loudly and smacked her leg.

"San Diego is terrible! We need more decent people like you, it's got too many frat boys and jerk-off girls." Putting her beer down, she shrugged and looked at me.

"I want to party and eat food," Vanessa muttered before getting off her couch and grabbing her wallet before heading into her room to change.

"Makenzie, c'mere." she yelled from her bedroom.

I headed into her room and sat on her bed.

"You look my size, here try this on." She'd thrown a red dress at me and grabbed a navy-blue dress for herself. I went into her bathroom and slipped on the dress. It fit me like a glove. The dress was off my shoulder and hugged my curves while showing off a little cleavage, I will admit I looked good.

"Makenzie!" she yelled again. Just from meeting her an hour ago, she was already high maintenance. I sighed and walked back into her room. Her dress was on one shoulder and fit her perfectly, it had sequins and was very revealing.

"Damn, we look good. I'm glad you're my new friend. Fuck Carly, she was a cunt anyways, and for the record, I am not uptight. Maybe if she wasn't so damn loose, she could keep a guy." She scoffed before grabbing a black bag and silver heels for herself. Handing me a pair of black heels I put them on.

"Now tell me, are you ready to party or are you ready to party?" I nodded and smiled. I was ready for this mission to be over with. "I'm ready when you are. I need a night out." That was a partial truth. What I needed was some freedom and for Isaac to be dead.

"Okay, let me order an Uber since I'm going to get a white girl wasted tonight and I don't want to drive. It's lame driving to a party." She pulled out her phone and ordered an Uber.

"Okay, Antonio is going to be here in 10 minutes!" She clapped her hands like a little kid and giggled.

We waited in her bedroom while perfecting our looks a little more. I took the time to put a little more effort into my look without looking like a complete skank. Vanessa handed me a red tube of lipstick with a comment that this would make my eyes pop more. I didn't question it. I needed all the help I could get.

"Okay bitch, Antonio is here, let's go to party and have a great fucking night." Vanessa squealed before grabbing her handbag and walking out the door with me following close behind her. I knew there was a chance we were going to get into some trouble tonight, but I had one goal in mind, and I was focused. The drive there was mostly Vanessa talking to the Uber driver and me following in on their conversation. Once the car had pulled into a driveway, I noticed a familiar scent. She'd gotten out of the car, and I followed her to the door.

"So, basically everyone is super spunky so don't mind anyone. I'll introduce you to everyone I know." I was already drained from the social interaction, but I kept up the facade.

"Sounds good." As we entered the house, Vanessa smiled happily and screamed.

"Hey bitch! How are you!" with excitement searing from her voice, she took a couple of shots before handing me one. I took them down and exhaled.

"Oh, oh! This is Makenzie! She's my new neighbor. Mackenzie, this is Lexi, she's known me for like ever." I smiled and waved at Lexi before Vanessa grabbed my hand and yanked me to the dance floor. They were playing my favorite song. Vanessa began to dance and ran her hands through her hair. I need more alcohol if I'm going to do this. "I'll be right back," I said to her, but I didn't think she heard me. She kept dancing and looked as if she didn't have a care in the world. I found my way to the kitchen and poured myself some Captain Morgan. After taking 4 shots, I still wasn't drunk enough. Sometimes I loved that I couldn't get shit-faced because of my supernatural metabolism but in times like this, I wished I could drink and not remember a thing.

I took 5 shots of Patron before I finally started to feel a slight buzz. Heading to the dance floor, I'd lost sight of Vanessa until I found her dancing with some random guy. I didn't mind, in all honesty, I needed a break from her whiny voice. My favorite song was still playing, I began to feel the beat and move my hips to the song, dancing alone I ignored the pathetic attempts of the frat boys Vanessa warned me about and danced the night away. Suddenly, my nose was filled with a familiar scent. It was stronger now. I stopped dancing and looked around. I followed the scent and found Isaac hiding in the corner. It turns out parties weren't his scene, and I couldn't blame him. I knew he was still torn about my disappearance, but he hadn't known it was me. He was getting up to leave but I couldn't let that happen, so I took this opportunity to walk by him. Bumping into him all my stuff had fallen out of my bag.

"Oh my god, I'm so clumsy. I'm so sorry." I said, scrambling to pick up my stuff. He bent down to help me before we touched hands and made eye contact. "Makenzie?" He said softly. I smiled and nodded.

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here with a friend. Her name is Vanessa. She's here somewhere. She kind of ditched me." I explained. I played off my deviance with innocence.

"Oh, well it's nice to see you. You look beautiful, I was about to head out, but it was nice to see you." He helped me pick up the rest of my stuff before walking off. I frowned before following behind him.

"Hey Isaac, wait up!" I caught up with him and felt the cold air brush against my face. He turned around and met me with a soft smile. "How come you're leaving the party?" I spoke.

"It's just not my scene. I'm looking for something and I know around this time is usually the best time to find her." I knew exactly what he was talking about, I was still recovering from that bloody arrow.

"Oh, I can come with you! I'm good at finding stuff." I offered eagerly. I needed to be around him, I needed to get close to him. Despite this aching feeling of a hidden connection that I had with him I needed to end this.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather do it alone." I shook my head and frowned.

"Oh, I understand, I just thought you might want some help, I'll just head back into the party." I forced myself to sound hurt and began to walk back to the party. He grunted and called out for me.

"Makenzie waits! Maybe you can help, just promise me you won't freak out once we find it?" I hated promises but turned around and nodded. Walking back to him, he opened his car door for me, and we drove off toward the desolate canyons that formed a giant silhouette in the moonlight. I'm sure Vanessa won't be upset that I left, she was certainly occupying her time with that random guy.