by Sasha Pruett
*****
“Aaron, Jeremy had this book in his room. I found it the day that they pulled that couple out of the lake. I remember because it was laundry day. This book was not in this house two days before that.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was in his room two days earlier searching for hidden dishes that needed washed and it wasn’t there.”
“It could have been somewhere else.”
“No, it couldn’t. Jeremy told me himself that he and a bunch of his friends had found it in one of the caves that they were scavenging in on Friday.”
“What are you getting at Wendy?” He knew exactly what she was saying, but it sounded so outlandish and downright crazy that he wasn’t about to accept it as even a possibility let alone a fact. He had already had enough misgivings about the whole situation and this was only moldy icing on the dried out cake.
“Think about it Aaron, our son finds this book and he and his friends read from it, right after some poor couple, and who knows how many animals, are slaughtered by some monster just like they were in the book. Doesn’t that seem just a little too coincidental to you?”
“Wendy, Hun, listen to yourself. It’s just a book, a diary of some madman that thought he had some sort of magical powers or something. Things like that just don’t happen in real life.”
“Aaron, there’s more out there in the world than you or I know about. How can you sit there and say that it’s not even remotely connected somehow?”
“But Hun, if that’s true, if all of this is connected somehow than do you realize what you’re implying? I mean really comprehend? Because it sounds to me like you’re saying that you think our son, our SON, Wendy, is responsible for all of these... deaths. That our son is some kind of... werewolf or something? That’s crazy Wendy!”
“Not completely, since he’s the one that read from the book he only called up the demon. It’s one of the other boys he was with that night that he must have accidentally turned into a... werewolf as you call it. He only turned it loose by accident, so in a way he is somewhat responsible, but not completely.”
“How do you know? How do you know that he’s the one that read that... that spell or incantation or whatever? How do you know he’s not some kind of monster?” Aaron hadn’t realized he had completely let go of his ‘crazy’ stance and was now more concerned whether or not his little boy was some kind of demonic beast, tearing apart anyone he came across. “I don’t care if he did ‘call that thing up’ as long as he’s not the... thing itself. That’s all that matters to me.”
“No, but don’t be so insensitive, somebody out there is, and more than likely it’s one of his friends.”
“Well what are we supposed to do about it, if there’s any truth to it at all that is?” He had returned to his ‘crazy’ defense, “It’s not even a full moon.”
“Don’t be so sarcastic. It wasn’t a full moon the night that that couple was murdered and thrown in the lake, and it wasn’t a full moon last night either. I don’t think the moon has much of any bearing on it. This isn’t the movies Aaron.
Look I know you’re worried about Jeremy, but just because he’s not the...”
“Werewolf?”
“Fine... werewolf, just because he’s not the werewolf doesn’t mean that he’s not in danger.”
“How do you mean?” Had he missed something? He had a gun, and he knew how to use it too. If that thing invaded his home he’d send it back to where it came from before it could blink.
“Just say for the sake of argument that history has accidentally repeated itself, alright?”
“Okay.”
“The moon isn’t a factor that much we know, right?”
“If you say so.”
“The journal never mentioned what actually causes the transformation, it could be anything that triggers it, the sunset, a word, anything. We just don’t know.”
“Alright, but where are you going with this?”
“I’m getting there; since we have no idea of when it could happen or who it would happen to, Jeremy could be hanging out with his friends and get caught right in the middle of the transformation. He could be there when one of those boys changes Aaron, and what do you think that thing’s going to do to him? It’s not going to hold back and spare our son just because he happens to be the friend of its host!”
Aaron’s head was spinning. This was all too much. It couldn’t be true, this couldn’t be happening. This was the kind of thing that happened in movies and fiction novels, the kind of story that you told around the campfire or at a slumber party. This was impossible, wasn’t it? Then a question resurfaced in his mind and his face went ashen, “Wendy, how do you know that Jeremy was the one that read it? I mean are you absolutely sure he’s not...?”
Wendy’s blank expression said enough and with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu the two ran for the stairs, vying for the lead, desperate to get to their son. Yet deep within their hearts they were terrified that when they reached his open door they would find an empty bed and their one and only precious gift gone, but not from sneaking out.
Their hearts pounded more from fear than physical exertion as they reached the landings axis and turned for his room, and waves of relief washed their fears aside at the sight of their little boy, tossing and turning in his medicine induced sleep. The pair paused only for a moment releasing a sigh of ease before attempting to reawaken their son. They had a job to do and they desperately needed information, and Jeremy was again awakened by two panicky parents.
“Jeremy, Honey, wake up. Come on, wake up sweetie, this is very important, Jeremy!”
“Mom? What’s wrong now? Was I having another nightmare or something?”
“No sweetie, it’s nothing like that. We need to know who else was with you when you found that book. You remember; the old one you had on your desk the other day? The one from the caves, remember?”
“Yeah, sure, why?”
“We need to know who read from it. Jeremy, Hun, who read from it? Who was the last one to read from it? Was it you? Were you the last to read from the book? Was it out loud? Jeremy please, we need to know!” Aaron gently squeezed his wife’s shoulder to calm her and she realized she was scaring her son.
His mother’s frantic demeanor and his father’s stressed figure looming behind her was a red flag to be completely honest, he dare not hold anything back. “We all did.”
“Who’s we sweetheart? I need to know.” She was doing her best to control her anxiety.
“Well...,” still groggy from the medication he struggled to recall the events of the past few days, and not to slur his speech, “there was Will Raleigh and his brother, Jacob. Chris was there Chris Mann, and Mike was there too. Why what’s wrong?”
“You mean Michael Lamb?”
“Yeah. What’s going on Mom?”
“Jeremy, listen to me, this is very important, think hard now. Who was the last one of you to read aloud from the book?”
“Why, did we do something wrong?”
“Jeremy, please, just tell me!”
“It was me okay. Mom you’re scaring me. What’s this all about? Did I do something wrong?”
Wendy felt a pang of guilt and unease and turned towards her husband for reassurance and support, turning the conversation over to him.
“No son. You haven’t done anything wrong at all. It’s just that we think that there may be a connection between the attacks lately and the book that you found that’s all. Your mother and I just want to make sure that you and your friends that were with you that night are alright.”
“Really? You mean you think someone’s after that book and they’re killing for it?”
“Something like that, but don’t worry. You’re safe here, understand?”
Jeremy nodded, but he wasn’t sure that he did understand. Why would someone kill for that old thing, let alone kill livestock? That didn’t make sense, but if it were true was he in danger? Would they come aft
er him, and if someone was after the book itself then why were his parents so desperate to know who had read it? The medicine was fogging his mind and he couldn’t concentrate on any answers.
Wendy and Aaron hated lying to him, but neither had the heart to tell him the truth. I mean, how do you tell your child, your only child, that you believe he may have turned one of his friends into a bloodthirsty monster? With that Wendy had one more thing to say before leaving him to his oncoming slumber.
“Please promise me that you won’t sneak out tonight. Promise me that you’ll stay here no matter what, alright?” She peered deep into Jeremy’s eyes as he promised and knew this time she could trust him.
“Thank you Jeremy.”
His parents waited until they were downstairs, out of earshot before continuing their tette a tette in hushed tones, in case of eavesdropping teenage ears.
“Oh Aaron, I hated lying to him, but what could we do?”
“I know what you mean, I felt that same nauseating feeling in the pit of my stomach too, but you’re right, there wasn’t any other way. I mean how could we tell him that in some way he’s responsible for the murders?”
The two looked to each other, each sensing a mix of fear and concern looming behind their eyes before glancing towards the ceiling as if looking at their son above, wondering what to do next.