Eric's heart skipped a beat at Doctor Makovsky's words. Lure Lauren and her mother here? 
"What do you plan to do with them?" He asked, his voice betraying a hint of defiance. "Why drag them into this? You already did that, didn't you? You used Aidan to kidnap Lauren so she could be with you. And it didn't work."
Doctor Makovsky's smile widened, breaking through his poker face. "Sure, it didn't work the first time, because neither of them wanted to be with me. But this time..."
"...Things will be different." Eric echoed. He looked up at Doctor Makovsky slowly. "This time, you're using a bait. Me."
"I want my family to witness firsthand the extent of my power and influence." The doctor continued. "They have defied me for far too long, thinking they could escape my grasp. But they will soon realize that no one can escape the fate I have designed for them. Katherine...she's a strong woman. And I know she loves her cop husband. But ultimately, she belongs to me, and so does Lauren. They're my blood, my people, and no amount of running away would change that."
Eric's mouth turned bitter with disgust. He so ached to call the doctor all the unprintable names that hovered on his tongue.
"You're deluded if you think they will simply come to you," Eric said, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "Lauren is strong, and after your last stunt, she won't be swayed by your manipulations."
The doctor's gaze was unwavering. "Ah, the naive optimism of youth. You underestimate my abilities, Eric. I have honed my skills in the pursuit of power, and I know exactly how to bend people to my will."
He walked forward till he was nose-to-nose with Eric. "My sources tell me that you and Lauren are very tight. Perhaps....she has a thing for you and you for her."
"Your source is Alpha Lyall, is it not?" Eric asked.
"He is."
"Who is he to Lauren?"
"I do not owe you an answer, Eric."
"You're using people close to Lauren to do your dirty work." Eric spat bitterly. "Because deep down, you know Lauren is made of much stronger stuff. And you're....you're scared."
Doctor Makovsky's expression hardened, his indifferent expression fading into a coldness. "You think you know everything, young man? You'd better watch what you say while you're here."
"I will not let you hurt them," Eric declared, his voice firm and resolute. 
"You cannot do anything, Eric." The doctor cut in. "You're here in Perkins, they're over there in Beacontown. You cannot protect them."
Eric continued, ignoring the hammering of his heart. "And that chip thing in Aidan's neck and Lauren's bracelet—"
"The only way they can get those things off is using Wolfsbane." The doctor explained. Then the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile. "But they will never know, will they? Because the only other person who knows now is you, and you're here with me, and you cannot leave, can you?"
"You are such a vile—"
"Besides, using Wolfsbane to get off my blue chips will amount to burning holes through their own skin." The doctor continued, as though he hadn't heard Eric. "Wolfsbane is lethal to wolves, and it's extremely rare too."
The both of them exchanged long, tense glances. Every single alarm in Eric's head was off now, warning him to find his way out of there. But he knew he couldn't move far without the doctor catching up to him.
Frank Makovsky broke eye-contact first. He glanced at the door to his left, then back at Eric. "Make yourself comfortable, Eric." He murmured. "Your friends won't figure out that you're gone anytime soon."
*****
Eric was tired of being a bait already.
He sat on a leather recliner in the corner, his eyes absorbing the flickering lights of the TV. But he wasn't taking in the images, no. His thoughts were miles away in Beacontown, following Lauren around.
Had she figured out that he was missing yet? Will Lia cover for him?
He had no idea what the time was. At least an hour or two had to have passed since Frank Makovsky had disappeared through the door to the left. Eric had gone to the storage room door and tried to open it, but the man seemed to have taken precautions and locked the door.
Eric wondered what his mother was doing now. Had she called the police after losing her son two times in a row? Was she worried sick about him? He wondered if she had gone to Beth's to ask about him. He wondered about a lot of things.
"Wondering won't do you any good, Eric." He sighed. Then his head snapped up as he heard a small yowl. In a large cage right beside Doctor Makovsky's office, several dogs stood.
Dogs—or wolves.
Eric sprang from the recliner and moved towards the cage. It was as tall as a wardrobe, wider than the average car, and ten or eleven wolves were locked in.
Yep, he thought. Those were definitely wolves.
As he stepped closer, the wolves began to snap at his feet, growling and baring their teeth. The cage rattled, and Eric was scared that it would break free and the animals would come out for him. Goosebumps swarmed his body as he watched these monsters that were once human.
How the hell had that mad Russian Scientist done it? How had he mutated humans into rabid, people-killing machines?
Eric knew he wasn't coming out of this situation alive, but he would rather die than be turned into animals like these people.
This Russian man had to be stopped.
Suddenly Eric heard the door jiggle behind him. He turned so fast that his neck snapped, to see the doorknob turn slowly.
Eric backed into a corner of the room. His fingers found a thin pipe, and he held it before him, heart thundering. The door creaked open slowly—and in walked Clyde, the barman.
He was holding a box of pizza in his hands, and on top of that, a large bottle of coke. He stopped short as his eyes caught a crouching Eric in the corner. 
He grinned. "What, did you think I was one of those monsters in that cage?"
Eric sighed and let the pipe fall to the ground with a clatter. His mouth was extremely dry—this whole place was starting to get to him. "To be honest, I won't be surprised if you were."
Clyde snorted. "Whatever, kid. I brought you dinner."
Dinner, Eric thought. That meant more than an hour or two had passed since he got here.
"Yeah, thanks." Eric muttered, then moved closer to the bartender. "Hey, can I....can I borrow your phone for a while?"
Swiftly the man narrowed his eyes. "What the hell for?"
"I need to text my mom and tell her I'm fine." Eric explained. "She must be worried."
"Yeah..." Clyde glanced warily at the door of Doctor Makovsky's office. "No can do, kid."
He turned to go, but Eric's voice made him stop short. "Why are you doing this, anyway?"
Clyde cocked his neck in the boy's direction. "What the fuck do you mean?"
"You know what that doctor is up to, and yet you're aiding and abetting him." Eric continued. "Did you know Mike Sommers? He was a cop here in Perkins."
Clyde turned to face Eric, then folded his arms. "Yes, I do. I did, until he disappeared years ago. He used to drink at my pub."
"Do you know where he is now?"
"No—boy, what's your point?"
"That man," Eric pointed towards Doctor Makovsky's office. "Turned Mr Mike Sommers into a werewolf. Mike was the very first human-to-wolf experiment, but the experiment was botched. So Mike got away and became a regular wolf, instead of one of those.....monster things."
"Yeah, and?" Clyde murmured in question, and Eric noted the slight tremor in his voice. The man was breaking already.
"Mike went on to bite his twelve-year old daughter, transmitting the venom to her." He continued. "Imagine doing that monstrous thing to a little twelve-year old girl."
"I cannot imagine," Clyde whispered. 
"And yet he continues," Eric murmured, his eyes locked into Clyde's in one will-weakening gaze. "Yet he keeps kidnapping people with your help and turning them into beasts."
Clyde exhaled forcefully. "I....I would never—"
"What's to say he won't add you to his growing wolf army, Mr Clyde?" He asked. "What's to say he won't kill you just to shut you up?"
Eric watched the bartender's eyes grow darker. "He cannot. We have a running deal!"
"As did Aidan Boris." Eric scoffed. "And do you know what Doctor Makovsky did in return? He killed Aidan's father in cold blood."
Clyde shook his head vigorously. "No—"
"Now, if there was a chance, albeit small, to stop that monster of a man from destroying people's lives, would you not try to make it work?" He asked. "That man is going to kill me, I know. But before he does, I would do every possible best to make sure that my friends stop him."
Eric paused, silently admiring the work he'd done ob Clyde's psyche. The man was in literal shivers now, and had broken out in a cold sweat. 
"Give me your cellphone, Mr Clyde."
Without hesitation, Clyde slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone. Eric collected it, then opened and went straight to the messages icon.
He still remembered the phone numbers of his loved ones. He always did.
But instead of punching in his mother's number, Eric put in Lauren's instead. His hands shook as his fingertips hovered over the phone's keyboard.
Eric closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath. Then he hurriedly typed his message to her, fingers slippery with nervousness.
When he was done, he re-read the message, hoping he'd added all the information Lauren needed to know. Then he pressed 'send' and deleted the message from the phone immediately.
He handed the phone back to the bartender with a resolute smile. "You did well, Mr Clyde. You did very well."