#Chapter 27: Back Home

Elijah

It’s good to be back home.
After looking around the area for several hours, we came up with no results; except for tuckered out twins. We had dropped the Twins off to their mother before heading to my office to discuss matters.
Normally when returning home I would greet the pack but with the high alert threat and my desire to clear my head; being around my pack was not an option. At least for right now.
Grayson swore that something had been in our territory, and I had no reason to doubt him. He was one of the few people I trusted; we had been brothers-in-arms long before I gave him the title of my Beta.
Gamma chalked it up to a bird or bat setting off the motion sensors. “I will go look at the cameras and tell you what I found.” Lewis, my Gamma stated as he exited the office. He stopped and turned to me and embraced me in the brotherly hug that I always expected from my third.
“I am glad to have you back sir. Even if it is for a moment.”
Lewis left the room with only myself and my Beta to discuss urgent matters.
“Here’s right it is good to have you back. Now I can relax without stressing over every little thing. I don’t know how you handle the pack and the mortals.” Grayson said smiling.
“Even I have difficulties dealing with the balance.” I said. I thought about Ava putting a distant between us.
“So what has you on edge, Alpha.” Grayson said as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of me.
“Do I seem on the edge?” I said looking into my friend’s eyes. I could feel my wolf bleeding into my eyes. I shut them quickly and cleared my throat.
“As your Beta, I would say you are acting as to be as expected when there is a breach in our security.”
“And as my friend.” I growled. I knew it was not a challenge but being back home my wolf Neptune was on the edge for some reason.
Grayson paused as he waited me to calm down.
“As your friend, I am worried about you since the competition. I know it has something to do with that spitfire you signed to the company.”
My inner wolf growled at the nickname. Even though it was an appropriate title for Ava, Neptune seemed to dislike it.
“Honestly, I don’t think she is a good match for you boss. Human. Were. It’s always messy.”
I was taken back for a moment. Grayson was always joking about my attraction to women or lack of. This time he was serious, which made me think of something.
I stood up from my desk and went into the closet. I rummaged through old photos and scrapbooks that my parents left me, until I came upon what I was looking for.
The taping of one of Little Aviator’s performances it was written in permanent marker on the plastic case. I had all of my old tapes converted to blue rays or DVDs just in case. My actions were justified when all my tapes were destroy in the fire at my family home.
“Since I found out who Ava was I have had this gnawing feeling. I want you to watch this with me and tell me what you think.”
“And what exactly is it?” Grayson asked.
“Ava before she disappeared.” I said bluntly.
As I popped the disc in the player and pressed play an adorable smile graced the screen.
“Hi there! I am Little Aviator and you are tuned into Musical Access.”
“Hey that is my line.”
There was a burst of laughter that was off the screen. A younger version of Ava was sitting in a chair next to a elderly man that one would assume was the host of the show.
“Well, folks you heard this little angel. We have the Little Aviator joining us today and she is going to help me host today’s show.”
“So I’m not performing today?”
“Of course you are gonna perform. I might get on stage a do a little tap with you.” The host said getting encouragement from the audience.
That would be the best thing ever!
Another big smile for the world to see. But before the show went any further Grayson paused the show.
“That’s weird.” Grayson muttered but he did not hit the play button.
“What is it?”
“Well first why is she called Little Aviator?” Grayson asked. It did not surprise me many people had not heard of that title. Hell most people never saw Ava when she was a child star. So the look of confusion playing on Grayson’s face did not surprise me.
“When she made her debut she was wear an aviator costume and she sang ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’.” She told the audience that if she did not win the talent show she would work on becoming a pilot when she got older.”
I remembered seeing that performance because at the end I saw my mother cry and she was not the only one. Majority of the audience was applauding and crying at the performance of Little Aviator.
“Okay that is adorable, but look at her eyes.” Grayson said. He pointed at young Ava that was grinning from ear to ear for the cameras.
“Yeah I noticed it too when I saw her.”
When Ava was a little girl her eyes were the color of clear blue skies and the ocean. But now….
“I have never seen children’s eyes change pigments like that. How old is she anyway?”
“Ava is twenty-five. years old now.” I stated.
“Okay so I am guessing that when this was filmed she was about nine or ten. There is no way her eyes changed like that without any type of modification.”
Grayson let the show resume but we talked more.
“Ava told me that she was not wearing contacts during any of her performances and when filling out the paper work for the company she stated she never went through any major surgery.”
Grayson looked at my for a second and than back at the little girl on the screen.
“Eye color can not change like that unless some type of corrective surgery. That’s not normal, Alpha.”
This was true and in the heat of the moment whether she realized it or not Ava admitted that she never had any changes to her pigments what so ever.
“Well that’s all the time we have folk. I would like to thank Little Aviator for coming by and also everyone in production and the studio for making this happen.”
Child Ava smiled and waved to the camera.
“Thank you all for having me and I am so glad you liked my song.”
“There has been nothing normal about Ava since she appeared in m studio.”
I stated as I continued to watch the program. I still could not wrap my head around someone disappearing from the public eye like that only to appears a decade later.
“That’s another thing, I looked over the cameras when she popped up.” Grayson said.
“And?”
“That’s it, she just popped up. As if she appeared in like….magic.” The words got lost on Grayson’s tongue, but he continued.
“At first I thought it was a glitch in the system, but even after I rerouted everything the footage still shows Ava appearing on the camera. If you blink you would miss it happening.”
I as about to respond to Grayson’s observation where something caught my attention. As the camera panned away from the stage and to the stage hands, I snatched the remote from Grayson quickly to freeze the frame.
“What the matter?” He said puzzled. Even though Ava was not on the screen anymore there was something else that I had noticed. Or rather someone.
There was a woman that was backstage. If I would have blinked I wold have missed her, but her features where similar to Ava’s down to the color of her eyes. But that is not what made me stop the the film.
I recognized this woman from somewhere.