by Jen Haeger
24
As Evelyn raced up US-127 on her way to I-75 in the Ford Focus she’d rented, she pondered what David had said about the meeting at the casino and his plan to use deer carcasses to lead the strays away from the fight. She thought it was a good idea, having originally come up with it herself, but at the same time she was really worried. It was the same tactic that David had used before, so there was a slight chance that the Vulke would be expecting something like it and would feed the strays just prior to the fight. But also there was the possibility that it just wouldn’t work for some other reason, like the strays weren’t downwind or just couldn’t be distracted from the fight that easily. Unfortunately, as much as it worried her, it was the best plan that they had, or rather the only plan that they had.
Evelyn and David had argued just before she left about her taking part in the fight. It was a useless spat, and what caused her the most ire was the fact that David wouldn’t admit the real reason that he didn’t want her to go. He was trying to protect her because he didn’t think that she stood a chance in a Wolfkin fight. She bristled at that thought since she had actually survived a Wolfkin fight before. Granted, she was human at the time, but if she could keep her human wits about her during this fight, she felt that she would be able to hold her own. If she couldn’t, well, she was sure that they would be able to find someone to continue her research.
Truth be told, she was tired of being the Wolfkin savior. She had been working her ass off for a long time with all that added pressure of being the only one. Lots of people could help now that things had gone all to hell. Random people were being infected now, and the other Wolfkin couldn’t hide behind their antiquated beliefs or superstitions anymore. A cure needed to be found, and quickly, and she shouldn’t have been the only one working on it now, dammit. Evelyn told herself that when all this garbage with the Vulke was over with, she and Roberto were going to use his resources to put together a research team. She would head it of course, but she was through doing all the grunt work.
Evelyn’s shoulders ached and she found that she was white-knuckling the steering wheel and clenching her teeth. Loosening her grip, she opened her mouth wide to unlock her jaw, and stretched out her neck as she tried to relax, then almost laughed out loud at the prospect of relaxing. Things were just about as screwed up as she could imagine them to be, including her and David fighting, and her having to leave so close to doomsday. Only because it was Clem was she making the five-hour drive to the U.P. They had been through a lot together and Clem was always on her side.
She tried to picture Clem’s easy smile and gentle friendly face, but then she remembered the grievous wounds inflicted on him by the werewolf hunters and the reason that she was going to see him. Evelyn frowned and then attempted to concentrate on the road, the alternative rock song on the radio, and the Michigan scenery: farmland, then forest, then more farmland, then more forest. There wasn’t much along this stretch of expressway until the Mackinaw Bridge. Not that it was a difficult drive, just long, and some people, including herself, were a bit nervous when driving over one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. For Evelyn, on this day, all alone with her thoughts, her worries, and her fears, the drive was torture.
*
When Evelyn arrived at Karen’s home, it was much like she remembered it from a few years ago, only this time a happy collection of daffodils interspersed with red tulips graced the flower beds in front of the porch, and a square of hyacinth with a green reflecting ball on a pedestal stood out in the middle of the yard. Those differences were lovely, the chain-link fence that now encircled the property was not. A gate at the driveway was open and she pulled up the drive to just in front of the detached garage. The home had a strangely comforting feel of familiarity even though most of Evelyn’s memories of it were laced with fear and violence.
When Evelyn turned off the car she spotted the toddler that once was baby Hank shambling around the side of the house from the back yard, followed by a noticeably pregnant Karen in an ankle-length, purple sundress. As Evelyn got out of the car Karen shouted.
“Halt!”
The toddler responded to his mother’s command by face-planting in the soft grass, eliciting a smile from both women. He rolled around until he could see his mother, who quickly put on a serious face and nodded. “Good job, Hank.” Karen looked up at Evelyn. “It’s something that we’re working on. For some reason, the word stop has no effect on him, but halt seems to work. It was Clem’s idea.”
“Gosh he’s gotten big.”
Karen patted her belly. “So have I.”
“I see that, congratulations! Erm…is it another boy?”
Karen smiled radiantly. “Nope. We are thinking of naming her Kansas.”
“Well, then congratulations again.”
Karen picked up Hank—who had been entertaining himself by chewing on several blades of grass—by the arms and the two of them walked over to Evelyn. Karen gave Evelyn a one-handed hug. “I love the hair. I almost didn’t recognize you. Thank you so much for coming.”
“Of course, I owe Clem, and I owe you.”
“He’s around back. I can hardly keep him in the house anymore.”
Evelyn started to follow Karen around the side of the house then paused. “Should I get my bag?”
“Why don’t we just start slow? Let’s not piss him off right from the get go. I might not have told him the entire reason for your visit.”
“Ahh.”
The daffodils and tulips gave way to large, gnarled, thorny rose bushes under the widows on the side of the house. Evelyn didn’t remember seeing them last time she was there. She wondered if they were recent additions to discourage intruders entering through those windows. The backyard was an impressive expanse of green with a large homemade playscape, a good climbing tree complete with treehouse, and a tree with a tire swing dangling from a horizontal branch. There was also a well-used wooden sandbox with a few pails and miniature metal yellow and black construction vehicles half buried in it. Tucked into the back corner was a little vegetable and herb garden, and in the middle of the yard was a fire pit with a wooden bench. Beyond the fence was a forest of trees with bright green buds. Though there was a nice deck with an assortment of cushioned, metal chairs, Clem sat as far from the house as possible on the bench by the fire pit staring off into the trees. As Evelyn got closer, she noticed a sturdy cane of gnarled wood by his side.
“Hey stranger.”
“Evie, darlin’! So glad you could find your way on up here for a visit!”
Clem struggled into a standing position using the cane and took a few pained steps forward. Evelyn gave him a warm, but gentle hug and motioned for him to sit back down as she joined him on the bench. Karen held back a bit and turned to watch Hank in the sandbox. Clem looked better than Evelyn expected him to, though it had been an entire month since Clem’s capture and brutalization by werewolf hunters. Scars marred his kind features now, and his movements were the stiff motions of recovering muscles, but mainly he just looked very weary, and some of the joyful spark in him had dimmed. Evelyn looked around the yard. “Not a bad place to rest and recuperate.”
“You should see it on bath night. Not quite so relaxin’.” Clem poked at the ground with his cane. “Evie, don’t think that I’m not glad to see ya, but don’t go thinkin’ I don’t know why you’re here.”
Evelyn sighed. She had thought about what to say to Clem for a good part of the drive up, but still hadn’t been able to think of anything that would convince him not to try to take part in the fight in a few days. “Clem, I’m not going to try to reason with you about this. I’ve seen logic come up against stubborn and stubborn wins every time. But I am going to give you the hard facts, and I know you’ll do what’s right.”
Clem stayed silent.
“The truth is, as much as I’d like to have you by my side in this, right now you would probably get me killed. It wouldn’t matter if you took apart every Vulke that came your w
ay. I would still be distracted worrying about you.”
“I can ap-preciate that, but isn’t it jest the same as you being distracted worryin’ about your Alphaman?”
Evelyn stared past Clem to the trees as she considered her complex feelings for David and his own brand of stubbornness. “Yes and no, but at least I know that with David, he’s fit and strong.”
“The change’ll make me strong again.”
“I know that it will make you feel strong, and I do know that it helps the healing process, but it doesn’t work miracles. Kim was still in pretty bad shape and I’m pretty sure she could’ve killed herself if we hadn’t sedated and restrained her while she was injured.”
“She’s just a pup. I’m no pup.”
“Which is why you should know better.”
Clem smiled weakly at that then stared off towards Karen and Hank. “What if it’s somethin’ else altogether?”
Evelyn followed Clem’s gaze to his sister and nephew. “What do you mean?”
Clem took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to explain it good, but what I can say is that for the first time in a long time I’m scared Evie.”
“Scared of the Vulke?”
Clem looked her in the eye. “No, scared ‘a’ myself. What they done, those men, they made the wolf real mad, Evie. Been feeling it gettin’ stronger with the coming of the moon, but when they were…cuttin’ on me, I lost control of it, the rage, the wolf, and I don’t know if I can get it back now. So I reckon it was a good idea to point that at the Vulke ‘steada at them.” Clem motioned towards Karen and Hank with his cane.
Evelyn had no words. Of all the arguments that she had expected Clem to make, this was not one of them. Finally, she just told him the truth. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I hear ya. I ain’t got no idea what I’m a’gonna tell Kare and the youngens. I don’t change around them a lot, but sometimes, and…and well, let’s just say that watchin’ the Wolfman on T.V. don’t hold much thrill for Robbie no more. Karen’s never been scared ‘a’ me when I’m a Wolfkin, and it’d just kill me to change that. And Gabe’d kill me for puttin’ her through it. Hell, I wouldn’t blame him.”
“You could come with us, but just not to the fight. We could lock you up somewhere safe.”
“And that would help the sit-u-ation exactly how? It wouldn’t change nothin’, the wolf’d still be mad and what if no one made it to let me out again?”
Evelyn swallowed hard. She hadn’t thought of that. Her throat tightened with sadness. “We just don’t want to lose you, Clem.”
For the first time she could ever remember, Clem looked like he might cry, and cleared his throat before speaking again. “Think that ship mighta’ sailed already.”
25
Evelyn and Clem came up with an elaborate lie that both felt comfortable with to tell Karen. Evelyn told her that, after arguing extensively with Clem, he had agreed to be part of the crucial deer carcass drop which was to take place away from the actual fighting line. Karen was not totally happy with this, but relented since she knew arguing was a losing proposition. After a lovely dinner of meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad, and honey-glazed carrots in the company of the whole family, Evelyn retired to one of the guest bedrooms that she didn’t get the chance to stay in last time. She got ready for bed then called David to tell him about Clem.
“Hey.”
“So did you convince him?”
“Not exactly.”
“Okay.”
David sounded impatient and, after such an emotional day, Evelyn’s temper flared easily. “It’s a little more complicated than I thought.”
“Listen, Evie, either you think he’s fit enough for the battle or you don’t. What’s the complication?”
“The complication is that he was tortured as a Wolfkin by those bastards and he lost control of himself. He doesn’t think that he can get it back. He’s afraid, David. He’s afraid that they broke him.” Evelyn’s anger curdled to despair and she wiped hot tears away from her cheeks. “He thinks that they turned him into the monster that they always thought he was and he wants to point that monster straight at the Vulke. I couldn’t tell him no. Can you?”
“Have you told Roberto yet?”
“No, I called you first. I was hoping that you would tell him. He’ll probably be ecstatic. Now we have our own secret mindless weapon of brutality.”
“He doesn’t know that he won’t be able to control himself.”
“He says he can feel the anger of the wolf even now, and that it’s been getting stronger with the coming of the full moon.”
David sighed. “Are you sure that it’s not just Clem’s displaced human anger?”
Evelyn suppressed an inappropriate giggle but smiled bitterly. “Damnit, David, I’m a veterinarian, not a psychologist!”
David was silent for a moment. “Touché”
“It could very well be, but I’m not going to argue with him about it right now. He doesn’t want to tell Karen or endanger her life, so I’m bringing him back with me.”
“And if he does go…feral on us?”
“There’s an old janitor’s closet in the basement of the vet clinic down the hall from the lab. They emptied it out to use it as a developing room, but then decided that it was too expensive to put in the proper ventilation, so it is basically a concrete box. I’m pretty sure that I can get a key from Dr. Jonson.”
“What if someone stumbles in on him?”
“That’s what the key is for, but trust me, after almost three weeks of working nights down in that lab, I can assure you that no one goes down there in the middle of the night but Kim and me.”
“I don’t know, Evie. He could still hurt himself, and if we aren’t there to watch him, how will we know if he’s not in control?”
“Truthfully, he could hurt himself whether we’re there or not, and we can either try to set up a camera or, even less complicated, we could just put something in there with him like a teddy bear. Chances are, if he’s not in control, he’ll shred it, especially if we tell him what it’s for.”
“Evie, do you think that he could be saying these things just because he wants to fight so badly? Making up this whole story about going feral?”
“You haven’t seen him, David. Whether it’s true or not, he’s truly afraid. I’ve only seen him like that once before.”
“Okay, but just to be sure, let’s see if we can set up a camera, and put in the teddy bear. We’ll tell him about the bear, but not the camera, that way if he just goes crazy for five minutes and then sits there we’ll know he’s faking.”
“I agree, but what if he is faking? How are we going to convince him not to fight then?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to cross that chasm if we get to it.”
*
As she had spent the drive up thinking of ways to convince Clem not to fight, Evelyn spent the way down trying to figure out what to say to bolster his confidence and help him regain his swagger. Battling his morose silence, she chattered about the shooting and events since, but he remained uncharacteristically taciturn, so Evelyn tried a different tactic as they sped southward through the pouring rain.
“Kim is dying to meet you.”
“That right?”
“Yep. We’ve told her so much about you, and how we never could have thwarted the Vulke without you.”
“Mmmm.”
“I also told her about your great sense of humor and how laid back you always are.”
Clem stared out the window at the deluge. “Sorry to make you look like a liar.”
“Well, actually, you’re not the only one going to make me look bad. I told you all about Kim’s energy, enthusiasm, and bubbling attitude, and before I left she was moping around like a pre-teen on the first Christmas morning she got more school clothes than cool stuff.”
Clem made a non-committed noise in the back of his throat.
“You didn’t mention my hair.”
�
�Suits ya.”
“Yeah, mine’s good, but wait till you see David.”
Clem finally turned to look at her with a tiny bit of life behind his eyes. “The pup a ginger too? Ya’ll trying to pass for brother and sis now?”
“Oh no, wait till you see.”
“Aw, come on now, Evie, how am I gonna’ come up with the real zingers if I can’t prepare?”
Evelyn grinned. “Nope, you’ll just have to wait.”
“Pretty please with ice cream on top?”
“Oh, alright. Roberto had them bleach his hair, and his eyebrows.”
“Oooo, this is gonna’ be good.”
He wasn’t quite the old Clem, but Evelyn decided that he would do for now.
26
When they finally arrived at the condo, it was around five in the evening and Kim was just getting up. As she and David met them at the door, Clem shook Kim’s hand with a bit of forced charm. “Evie here told me a whole heap ‘o’ a lot about you, but she ne-glect-ed to mention the pretty part.”
Blushing, Kim withdrew her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Evelyn told me you were a charmer.”
“Only for rattlesnakes, I reckon.” Clem winked at Kim then turned as if scanning the room. “But where’s Mr. Alphaman done run off to and who’s the towhead?”
David pulled him into a man-hug. “Ha, ha, ha, very funny.”
“I’ll think ‘o’ some better ones, jest give me a minute.”
David released him. “Well, I hope that you can think and eat at the same time. What do you say to chicken casserole?”
“I say, I’ll have another helping please.”
Soon they were all seated at the dining room table, David, Evelyn, and Clem eating the casserole, while Kim ate her “breakfast” of BooBerry cereal.
Clem stared at Kim’s bowl. “Not a fan of David’s cookin’?”
Kim swallowed down a mouthful of the cereal. “Oh no, he’s a great cook. I am working nights, and when I wake up, I can’t eat dinner food.”