Just then, Jack hears a commotion from the other side of the bar. A very big man and a small girl seem to be struggling over there.
"You are hurting me! Let go of me! I don't want to leave! Ow!" A skinny girl screams. Jack immediately stands up to look.
The guy tugs the girl's hair hard, forcing her out of the booth by inflicting pain.
Jack looks at the girl for a few more seconds. He decides to interfere. Jack doesn't think he needs to check with Keith. Jack walks over to the other side of the bar there slowly.
"Hey, how's it goin' here, man? You need help?" Jack asks the big guy. Jack keeps his voice slow and lazy.
The big guy glances at the girl and then glances back at Jack. He smirks, "What do you want?"
"I can help you get this girl out of here."
"What?!?" The girl looks surprised, "You are going to help this guy? He's attacking me!"
Jack smirks, "Girl, I don't think you're of drinking age to be at this bar. You need to get the hell out of here."
"How the hell do you know if I'm too young." The girl glares at Jack.
"I just know. You want to prove you're not too young? Show us your ID." Jack calmly replies.
The girl hesitates, then says, "Fine. I'll leave."
The big guy is also curious, "Thanks, man. Are you drunk? No one ever helps the guy. Always helping the girl."
Jack shrugs, "Shhh. Don't tell anyone I'm drunk. Now, come on, let's go." Jack grabs the guy's arm, heading for the entrance. Jack appears to have a slight limp on his left leg.
"What the F?" The guy wants to shake Jack off, but he can't. "You don't have to grab me."
"Come on," Jack drags the guy outside the bar.
The guy can't help but notice that Jack's grip is really tight, despite how relaxed Jack looks.
Now the three of them are outside the bar. Jack releases the man's arm. The man is surprised that his arm hurts like it's got bruised.
"What do you want, kid?"
"Did you just call me a kid?" Jack laughs, "I'm glad. I'm kind of older than a kid now. You must think I look young. I'll take that as a compliment. What's your name, sir?"
"It's Hank."
"Cool, Hank. Where are you guys going? Can I go with you guys?"
The girl suddenly laughs. She claps her hands like she's ready to watch a show. She leans against one of the motorcycles with American flag parking outside the bar. Jack looks over at her. He's taken aback that the girl seems to be quite cheery now. Wasn't she just so distressed earlier? Maybe she's under influence that she doesn't know what's going on.
Hank looks confused and amused at the same time. "Kid, I'm not taking you anywhere. I'm going to take this girl home. And you are not invited."
"Oh, then I don't want to be intrusive" Jack staggers backwards, still pretending to be drunk. Jack raises his hands, "Be safe. Call 911 if you need any help."
Suddenly, the girl laughs in a high pitch.
Jack finds her very strange. He decides to head back to the bar.
"What, are you leaving?" The girl laughs again. Jack doesn't have a good feeling about this now.
Is this some kind of set up? A woman pretends to be in distress, and when someone steps in, they rob the person? Jack is now on a stand-by combat mode.
Hank turns himself sideways to spit. But he suddenly turns back and throws a punch at Jack.
Jack quickly bends down like he's tying his shoes. Hank misses the punch. Jack gets back up.
"Hey, what's up with that? Hank, I just helped you get this girl out of the bar. Why are you trying to punch me?"
"Hank, you can step down now." The girl makes a strange gesture like she's training a pet. She stands up straight and walks over to Jack.
Jack takes a step away. He notices this girl has a very strange look in her eyes. Very wild.
The girl's face is close to Jack's. She examines Jack's face. And she weirdly starts to sniff; She's trying to smell Jack.
"I'm Nitte Hollow Horn. Nice to officially meet you. Face to face."
What? This is Nitte? She is younger than what Jack has imagined.
"In case you're wondering, I have a nose better than a blood hound." Nitte then slowly sniffs him down to his left thigh. "Ah, right here. Your blood smells nice. Keith shot you, huh? He's no fun, don't you think? Good thing you've been wounded today. Your blood definitely helped me locate you guys. Well, that and I do like to hang out around this area. I think Keith wants you to find me so he brings you here. But he can find me, too. He's just too afraid of my... power."
"What the hell?" Jack is confused. Jack knew it was very strange that Keith purposely wanted to place Jack here. But Keith made it sound like he doesn't really know Nitte. But this sounds like they know each other well enough.
Nitte then stands up, turns around, and whistles. "Hank, you can go now."
Hank suddenly stumbles backward a little. He then touches both of his temples, like he has a headache. He walks back to the dive bar in a compliant manner. A big contrast from his earlier behavior.
"I think you knew I wasn't in danger, so I decided to drop the act. And I don't want you to talk to Hank that much. Only I get to do that to him."
Jack is stunned.
She points at her own head and smiles, "I can tell him what to do because I can control his mind."
She suddenly claws Jack's arms, "It will be a secret between me and you. Don't tell Keith I can do that. He doesn't know everything I can do. He's just a regular guy. I think you're special. I can teach you something."
Jack is feeling a little creeped out by her. She has this very dangerous but almost sexy smile. Jack gulps.
"Teach me what? Mind control?"
"Lots of things. I can teach you whatever you want."
"Where are you from? Are you a Navajo?"
"I have some Navajo blood, yes. You are so smart! I know I like you for a reason."
Jack guesses that based on his knowledge about shapeshifters. Especially, Keith says Nitte prefers the term: a Skinwalker. That's usually associated with Navajo legend.
Jack laughs now, taking a step back, "You say you like me for a reason. How do you even begin to like me? We've never met."
"Oh, I saw you once. I've followed you around. I heard you talking on the phone with your friend. I'm really the one who mentioned you to Keith. He owes me a lot. I'm the one who discovered you, I should get a reward," She claps her hands like a little girl, "Oh, you and your friend on the phone are so naïve. You can whisper as much as you like, but I have a superpower that allows me to get close to you and you wouldn't even know."
Jack watches her. He believes everything she boasts about herself. He will not be surprised if she has more superhuman abilities. He finds himself feeling threatened yet also curious. She has an untamed mannerism, like a wild animal. Her eyes are of a strange color. Hazel brown but with golden color specs. When she grins, she reveals sharp teeth, reminding him of a wolf's fangs. She has high-pitch girly voice, but it sounds like she is just using that voice as a ruse. She lets her hip-length black hair loose, covering half of her body. She's skinny. Tall for a female. Probably about 5-foot-9 tall.
"After I heard your conversation on the phone, I started digging. I'm so happy to find you because you also like violence. You like to beat people up in alleys, don't you?"
Jack takes a deep breath. So Nitte told Keith about him. And Nitte has already been following him around but he never noticed.
"Why do you even have to follow me? If you like what I was doing, you can just show yourself and talk to me."
"I think following you around is more fun. I wish you were a lot more scared than right now. It's no fun that you're not so scared."
Maybe Keith is right. Nitte is crazy and uncontrollable.
"Hey, Jack. Ditch Keith. Keith is doing something really suspicious. Don't listen to him. Come with me. I've got a few mysteries for us to solve, you and I. You'd be a true hero. For the entire country."
Jack feels uneasy. Who can he even trust?