Chapter 7

A few days had passed since Izzie and Jake's conversation.

The whole Beloved thing was still playing on her mind, but not as much as it had been. She had spent the last few days at home, catching up on sleep and re-reading Cassius Snr's file. She also had taken the time to get her much needed housework done. She had been neglecting it for work, but with laundry piling up and a sink full of dirty dishes she had decided it was time she tackled that.

She had done her best to keep her mind off of Cassius, but he kept sneaking back in when she let her guard down.

Why did he have such an effect on her?

She was just finishing up organising the books on her bookshelf when her phone started ringing.

She frowned at the phone, glancing at the clock on the wall that showed it was eleven at night.

As she walked over she noticed that the number was unknown.

Her frown deepened.

It was highly unlikely that it would be anyone from work, she already had a target, a high priority one at that. Jake would usually be the one to call her anyway to update her on anything like that, and had his number.

Her last thought was that I could possibly be a cold caller but at eleven pm?

Reluctantly she answered and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" she said confidently, hiding the fact that she was a little freaked out.

There was nothing but static on the other end.

She waited a few moments, but she couldn't hear anything, but static.

Not even a breath.

She looked at the phone and then put it back to her ear.

The line was definitely connected, maybe the signal was just bad on their end?

"Hello?" she asked again, sounding a little more agitated.

As she continued to listen to the static a bad feeling started in her gut.

Her heart rate picked up a little and she immediately hung up the phone and dialled Jake.

"Hey," he answered after just one ring. There was loud music behind him and he was shouting so she could hear him over the music.

"Jake, can you get someone at base to trace the number that just called my phone?" she spoke loudly hoping Jake could hear her.

"Sure, I'm on it," he shouted back and then hung up.

Izzie stared blankly at the home screen on her phone for a few minutes, before locking it and tossing it back on the couch.

That was so weird.

Before she even had a chance to turn away the phone rang again, she grabbed it assuming it would be Jake calling back.

But when she answered there was just static on the other end.

She shakily looked at the caller ID.

Unknown.

She should have looked before she answered.

She hung up immediately and threw it back on the couch without saying a word.

The reason it scared her was that she herself could be being tracked.

It is rare but has been known to happen to slayers.

Someone of the supernatural world gets word of their identity and they begin to track them down.

They trace them however they can.

A block of ice seemed to land in her stomach as she remembered she had outright told Cassius she was a Slayer.

She hadn't checked the area or anything.

Anyone could have been listening.

It could even be Cassius himself who had taken out a hit on her.

But how did they get her number?

She had a phone given by the Slayers guild that had a special chip installed. It was supposedly untraceable, but there had been the rare occasion that the security system had been bypassed. The only people who could call her were the numbers given special permissions.

She had had the occasional cold-caller that had broken through the system with their automated dialler had generated the number, but even that was rare.

Who the hell was calling her?

Why were they calling her?

Why weren't they speaking?

She wasn't one to be freaked out easily (hence her job), but this was freaking her out.

She was alone, and from the sounds of Jake's phone call he was in town, so he was quite far away. It was pitch black outside nearly all of her windows.

Her house was set back from the road within the trees, with a long driveway leading up to it. Her neighbourhood was quiet anyway, only a few houses on her street and all were spaced quite far apart.

The only light outside was out her front window and it was the dim glow of a streetlight from the road in the distance.

Not feeling safe she went over to her drinks cabinet and pulled out her two daggers that were hiding in there.

If something was coming, she wouldn't be going down without a fight.

She grabbed her holsters from the bedroom strapped them quickly to her thighs, sheathing her daggers in them so her hands were free if she needed them.

She proceeded to go around the house turning all the lights off and closing all the door until the only light on was the living room.

Her phone began ringing again suddenly, making her jump.

She marched over to it, determined not to let this person get to her, whoever they were.

As she looked though she realised the caller ID said 'Jake'.

She grabbed it and answered.

"Hey," Izzie breathed, waiting for the potentially bad news.

"Hey Izzie," Jake responded, the noise around him was duller now and she guessed he had gone outside.

"Did they get back to you?" she asked, not wanting to bother with any small talk.

"Yeah, apart from you calling me, there haven't been any calls from or to your phone tonight," Jake said.

The icy feeling settled yet again, "No, that's not right!" she breathed, "The number has called again since!"

"Well no one at base could see anything," she could pretty much hear the shrug in his tone.

She couldn't understand this.

She pulled the phone from her ear and brought up her call log.

Sure enough, apart from her call to Jake, there was nothing else from that evening showing.

She couldn't just have imagined it.

No way.

She heard Jake calling her name and put the phone back to her ear.

"Yeah, I'm here," she breathed.

"Do you want me to come over?" he asked, sounding more concerned this time.

It did take much thought for her to reply, "Yes," though afterwards, she started to wonder if she was overreacting.

It all could just be a coincidence, but everything in her was telling her it wasn't.

"I'll be there soon," Jake told her, and there was a silence on the other end before he asked, "Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?"

"No, it's not safe if your driving," she said reluctantly, "I'll see you soon."

"Are you sure?" Jake asked not convinced, and no wonder, she wasn't convinced herself. She did want to stay on the phone with him, but she didn't want to endanger him while driving.

"Yes, now hurry," Izzie said with urgency and then hung up the phone before Jake could argue anymore.

She didn't want to discuss it anymore, she wanted him to actually be with her.

She didn't get this feeling just about anything.

If her gut was saying something was wrong, then something was wrong.

She bet everything she had that Cassius had told on her, or that someone unsavoury was listening and it was coming back to bite her.

Maybe literally.

It was then that she heard a twig snap outside her the house.

Izzie sucked in a sharp breath and leapt for the lights. Switching the last ones on in the living room and plunging her into darkness.

If it was someone of a supernatural persuasion, which is more than likely was, they had perfect sight in the dark.

She didn't switch them off to be hidden, she switched it off so she could see them.

Every supernatural that could see well in the dark had a reflective lens within their eyes, much like a deer or cat, that make their eyes appear to glow in the dark.

That's what she was looking for.

She backed up against the far wall, one hand holding the wall, the other one glued to the handle on her dagger.

She took a moment to slow her breathing as she strained her ears to hear even the tiniest movement.

They already snapped a twig, they were going to be extra careful from now.

They knew she knew they were there.

She had to be extra vigilant to try to regain the upper hand.

She tried to slow her heart rate best she could, but they could probably already hear it hammering in her chest from a mile away.

'Come on, Jake,' she thought desperately, 'Where are you?'