by Helena Shaw
By the end of her battle, she had cut out most of the clothes she’d originally intended to keep. All she had left was the one emergency pair of jeans, her leggings, a couple extra sweaters, and her underwear. That, and the framed picture that Courtney had given to her, Jim, and Gabe that showed the four of them smiling behind the bar at Jim’s.
“Shit,” Dawn said as she worked to shove the photo into a pocket. The corners of the frame were just slightly too big, and eventually she gave in and broke off the back of it. The frame was only some cheap piece of crap from Walmart or Target, and she didn’t need to keep that. The only thing she really needed was the photo.
Already, her eyes were getting misty. The alcohol that had been meant to calm her nerves was only making her emotional, and it was all she could do to keep her cool as she folded the picture and put it in the bag’s pocket. Even thinking about writing a goodbye letter for Jim and Gabe was making her heart hurt, but it was nothing compared to when she caught sight of the green jacket hanging over her couch.
Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks as she spotted Jase’s jacket. If not for the booze, she knew she’d be holding it together a lot better, but it was too late to undo that poor choice. She missed him, she regretted letting him go, and there was nothing she could do about it. No one had ever made her feel like he did, and now that was gone.
Still, she couldn’t leave the jacket behind. Though the weather was too cold for it, she put his coat by the door for her to grab when she left in the morning. She’d have to leave before the sun came up, and it would be even colder then, but an extra sweater would combat that.
Right as Dawn hung Jase’s jacket by the door, someone rapped loudly on the old wood. Dawn couldn’t even find it in herself to be startled, only elated as she opened the door, hoping to see that Jase had returned to her.
It wasn’t Jase’s green eyes that met her own as she opened the door, but Gavin Mosley’s deep brown ones. For the first time since he’d come to the bar to explain his side of the events after Courtney’s disappearance, the sweet man appeared truly troubled, and his normally permanent smile was nowhere to be seen.
“Gavin,” she said with a disappointed sigh that she just couldn’t hide. “What’s wrong?”
“Can I come in?” he said as he stared at his feet.
“Um,” Dawn stuttered. Jase’s voice echoed in her mind, telling her no, demanding her not to let him in. To tell him she was too busy, tired, sick even and that she would see him tomorrow. All that came out of her mouth was, “Sure.”
“Thanks.” Gavin came in and kicked off his muddy boots by her front door.
“Feel free to sit on the couch,” Dawn said as she moved into the kitchen. She was about to grab the whiskey bottle, there was maybe enough left for two or three drinks, but she decided against it. Her head was already swimming, and any more alcohol would put her over the edge. If she planned on an early morning, a hangover was the last thing she needed to be dealing with.
And part of her was saving that little dribble that remained for celebrating when Jase returned, if he came back at all.
“How about a coffee?” Dawn decided on as she clicked on her coffee maker.
“I’m good,” Gavin said. “I’m already a little too jittery for more caffeine.”
“No problem,” Dawn said as she put some grounds in a filter. Even if he didn’t want any, a cup or two for herself might be a good idea. She needed to sober up, and quick.
“Where are you going?” Gavin asked as he looked around her little home.
“Sorry?” Dawn asked as the hot water began to drip.
“You,” Gavin said. “You’re going somewhere, aren’t you?”
“Not really,” Dawn lied.
“Bullshit,” Gavin said. “Unless you’ve lived out of a suitcase ever since moving to this town, you’re going somewhere.”
“Just for a few days,” Dawn lied again. “I just need to clear my head and think about things. The bar hasn’t had more than a couple people come through the last little bit, people are still afraid to be out at night, and I think I should just take a few days and figure my own shit out.”
“It might be a good idea,” Gavin said as he looked at his hands. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, but I know some people still think I’m a suspect, and me taking off won’t help that. It’s just...”
“What?” Dawn asked as she poured herself a mug of coffee and then joined him on the couch. There was something about the sad, innocent puppy dog eyes he shot her that she couldn’t refuse, and a part of her wanted to be there for him, even if the memory of Jase in her mind was telling her not to.
“I don’t think it’s safe here,” he said. “I mean, what if you’re right? What if whatever it was is smart enough to know to hide until the hunters all left?”
“You think it’s possible?” Dawn asked, her head spinning just enough to throw her off balance. Her hand found the cushion of the couch to steady herself.
“Maybe,” Gavin said. “The last couple nights, I’ve been hearing things. My house isn’t quite in town, ya know? But at night, I’ve heard something outside. At first I thought it was a raccoon, maybe a possum, or something. Then it started making more noise, howling and scratching. Then, last night, I swear I felt like I was being watched when I went to get some firewood. I tell ya, I’ve never ran so hard in my whole life as I did last night.”
“But did you see anything?” Dawn asked, feeling her words slur in her mouth just a bit.
“No,” Gavin shook his head. “But I felt it, ya know? It’s hard to explain, it’s almost like...”
“Instinct,” Dawn finished for him. She knew that feeling, that one that sits like a stone in your stomach, all too well.
“Yeah, well, instinct or not, I felt pretty foolish when I got back inside,” Gavin said. “I’d dropped most of the wood, and I laughed at myself for being a chicken, but I sure as hell didn’t go back outside to pick it back up.”
“Nor would I,” Dawn said with a gentle laugh.
“Well, I thought that was the end of it,” Gavin said. “But I was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Dawn asked.
“Like I said, I tried to force myself to think I was just being a coward,” Gavin said. “But it took me all day today to go outside and get that firewood. Even in the daylight, I was shaking like a leaf.”
It was hard for Dawn to imagine a man like Gavin, all six-foot-three of him, being scared of anything, but she kept her laugh to herself and let him continue.
“It was when I was walking back to the house that I saw it. Right beside the doorframe, in the side of my house, were deep claw marks.”
“Five of them?” Dawn asked.
“Hell yeah,” Gavin nodded. “Wait, how do you know that?”
“The same thing happened to me,” Dawn said. “It had sounded like a raccoon, but when I went out there, I found the marks gouged deep into the back of my house.” She didn’t include the part where she was damn sure the marks had come from a werewolf, but it was enough to make Gavin shudder.
“What the hell is it?” Gavin asked. “God, I thought this town was going to be a way for me to lead a simpler life, to relax and just be Gavin, and I was barely here two weeks before it all fell apart.”
“What do you mean?” Dawn asked.
“Oh, like you don’t know,” Gavin said with a weak laugh. “Wild animals, dead hikers, and that’s not the worst of it. I can’t buy my groceries without at least one person narrowing their eyes at me. The FBI cleared me, but people still blame me for Courtney going missing.”
“I’m sorry,” Dawn said. She knew all too well how powerful that blame was.
“I’d accuse me, too,” Gavin said. “I don’t know, I guess I should be glad the media never heard about it. At least now I have a chance to live it down.”
“People will move on,” Dawn said. “Small town gossip has a way of lingering, but they’ll move on.”
“Yeah,”
he agreed. “You know the worst thing, though?”
“What?” Dawn asked.
“The loneliness,” Gavin said. “I was looking for peaceful, serene, and I got non-stop loneliness. I’m almost always alone. I get judged when I go into town, or the people who don’t think I’m a killer don’t think they’re allowed to talk to me since they’ve seen me on TV. I’ve chopped so much firewood up at my place I could never cut down another tree again and still have enough to last me until the end of time. I just… I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
Maybe it was the whiskey, maybe it was sympathy, or maybe it was because Dawn could relate to what he was saying about being alone, but she found herself leaning in and wrapping her arms around him.
Gavin’s chest was broader than she realized, and his body was hot under her arms, but gently she gave him a squeeze. It was awkward at best, and the moment she leaned her cheek against his shoulder, she realized that it was mostly the whiskey she’d drank that was driving her. But she felt bad for Gavin. She really did.
It was when his hands, his huge, strong hands, found her forearm that she found herself uncertain of what she was doing. Jase’s voice was screaming at her to leave, to make mention of forgetting something at Jim’s and then just never coming back. Every instinct in her body was urging her to take off, yet Dawn couldn’t seem to make herself stand.
It wasn’t just the whiskey that kept her seated. It was her own loneliness, her own sorrow that made her stay put. Gavin was a poor substitute for Jase, but his warmth was enough, in that moment, to let her know that she wasn’t alone.
Maybe it was her loneliness that allowed him to slide his fingers under her chin and lift her face to meet his. Maybe it was her need to be touched that stayed her hand as Gavin’s lips moved closer to hers. Above everything else, it was the whiskey that coursed through her veins that prevented her from moving away as he kissed her, softly at first, but then with more passion.
“Gavin, I...” she tried to say, but his strong hands found her arms as he kissed her deeper. His kisses were softer than Jase’s, and they lacked the deep, heated passion of the man she longed for. His large hands were rough, but the connection wasn’t there, and Dawn felt like she was along for the ride rather than actually craving his touch.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said between shallow kisses. “I love staring into those beautiful green eyes of yours.”
His words were meant as a compliment, but it only made Dawn think of Jase. He’d been able to see past her little trick, and so easily too, but Gavin was taken in by it.
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Dawn said as she tried to pull away, but Gavin’s hands found hers and held her tightly. In her heart, she knew she didn’t want him, but the whiskey dulled her senses and her need to be held made her blind. It wasn’t Gavin she wanted, but as his kisses moved down her neck, her protests slowed to a trickle.
Without asking him to, Gavin pulled off the t-shirt he wore, revealing his hard, muscular chest. He was big, so big, and yet his muscles did nothing for her. As he kissed her again, Dawn let her eyes close, and it wasn’t Gavin whose lips were on hers, but Jase’s.
With that image in her mind, Dawn let her fingers trail up Gavin’s huge, muscular arms. Under her lips, she felt him purr with excitement and she deafened herself to him. Maybe if she kept her eyes closed, she could pretend it was Jase. That way, they could have one last night together before she left Goosemont forever.
Her fingers trailed further up his arms, holding him tighter while his kisses grew in excitement. Dawn forced herself to turn off her senses, to let the alcohol and her imagination do the work, but when her fingers trailed along a scar on Gavin’s right shoulder, she found herself pausing.
The raised skin was hot under her touch. Even without looking at it, she knew it was a big, angry looking scar, pink and still fresh. Without thinking, she let her fingers trail along it, examining it.
It almost feels like a gunshot wound, her mind mused as her fingertips stroked the scar.
That was when it hit her. It was from a bullet wound, and it was recent.
Chapter Eighteen
Dawn’s realization was enough to bring her back to reality. In an instant, she pushed herself back from Gavin and retreated across the couch.
In the light, she could see the scar that her fingers had found a moment earlier. Her assumptions had been correct: it was deep, ugly, and pink as it bubbled up along the muscle of his shoulder and moved with him as he reached out for her. Even worse, it looked fresh. Very fresh.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes soft and sweet.
“I just…” She fumbled for the right words. “I just… I can’t do this right now,” she managed to stutter. “I’m really sorry, Gavin. You’re so sweet, but I just can’t.”
“Can’t you try?” he pleaded with her, the sweetness in his voice turning almost sickly.
All Dawn could do to answer was shake her head, but her eyes were still on that ugly pink scar.
“I thought you said you hurt your shoulder chopping wood,” Dawn said as she pushed herself back a little further.
As the words fell from her lips, Dawn noticed a change in Gavin. It was no more than a subtle shadow passing over his face, but it was enough to send the panic in her belly spinning. Worse yet, his deep brown eyes looked different. Suddenly she was noticing flecks of gold in them that she had never seen before.
“What, this?” he asked as he pointed at the scar. All the sweet sadness was gone from his voice as he spoke. Instead there was a confidence there, a confidence that had saturated even his words.
“Yeah, the scar,” she said as she kept her eyes locked on his, afraid that if she turned her back to him, he would pounce on her.
“Oh, yeah, a piece of wood flew up and sliced me pretty good,” he said, never faltering. “And when it hit, I wrenched my shoulder pretty bad. It looks worse than it is, though.”
All the warmth that had been there only a moment ago had disappeared from his voice. The golden flecks in his eyes were only growing larger and colder as he stared into her eyes, and his smile no longer looked sweet and naïve, but hungry, needy even.
“Oh, that must have hurt,” Dawn said as she moved to stand from the couch.
“Is it that ugly?” Gavin asked as he put a hand on her knee, stopping her from standing. “It’s just a scar.”
Dawn had no trouble with scars. If she could have, she would have traced every faded white line that crossed over Jase’s body. But this was different. She knew what had been the cause of Gavin’s scar. Excuse or not, it was no piece of wood that had torn through Gavin’s shoulder, but rather a bullet from the gun Jase had fired at him the night he’d first tried to attack her.
She knew she had to act fast. The sudden realization of what that scar meant had paralyzed her, but not for long. Even with the whiskey still slowing her down, Dawn’s mind was racing, yet her face remained a stony mask as she faced the monster who sat on her couch.
“It’s not that bad,” she said, forcing herself to smile. “I just think, before we do anything crazy, I should go double check that Jim is okay down at the bar.”
“Why not just call him?” Gavin asked as he nodded toward her phone.
“Oh,” she said as she moved toward the door. The suitcase she had almost finished packing was on the other side of the couch, but Gavin now sat between her and it. Her last bit of emergency cash was there, and her clothes, but none of it was worth finding out what kind of animal Gavin might become.
“He’s pretty deaf,” she blurted out. “He never hears it, and it’s not a far walk. I should get over there before it gets dark. You’re welcome to stay, though.”
It would be best if he stayed put. That way she would know where he was and she could take off and he would still be waiting there. The sun was starting to set and that meant she was in a world of trouble if she didn’t get out that door as soon as possible.
She wasn’t fast enough, though,
and before she knew it, Gavin was standing behind her and pulling her hair off her face. Gently, he turned her toward him, and the last of his sweet, innocent look was gone. In its place was the Gavin she’d seen that night at the bar, the night where Courtney was in his lap and he was the ultimate charmer.
“Come on,” he said as his hands found the curve of her butt and pulled her closer to him. “I’m sure the old man is fine. How about you and I have a little fun?”
Dawn knew if she flinched, the jig would be up and she would be revealed. Even as another thought crossed her mind, an uglier, horrifying thought, she couldn’t react. But she quickly realized that if Gavin was the monster that Jase had gone hunting, and now Gavin was alive and well in her living room, which meant that Jase might be just another one of his victims.
Even as that idea crossed over her mind, she couldn’t show it. “I’ll be right back,” she promised him as his lips brushed against her cheek. Only a moment earlier, his kisses hadn’t been what she has wanted, but they hadn’t revolted her. Now they made her skin crawl, and she had to stand there and take it.
“The timing is perfect,” he said before his lips found hers again. “You and I could have the most amazing night together.”
As he kissed her, pawed at her even, Dawn’s eyes raced around the room. She knew she’d never make it out the door. Gavin was twice her size, fast, and most likely a beast. She’d never be able to outrun him or overpower him, but she was on her own. Her only hope was to outsmart him.
“You’re right,” she purred at him, shifting gears. Gavin wasn’t the only one who could play a part when it was needed. “And I have been so alone without Courtney.”
“I can help with that,” he said as he pulled her closer, his body so hot that it almost burned her.
“I hope so,” she said as she nipped at his lip. “But first, I could really use that drink. It’s been so long since I’ve done anything like this; I need a little liquid courage. Want some?”