He looked back to her. “Why? What did Jimmy do to warrant him wanting to do that?”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t like what he is.” This seemed like the only explanation she ever had for how Gary did things. She didn’t understand his hatred. She wasn’t the type to hate anyone, and in a way, she hoped that she never would. Knowing that, it’s the only thing that made any amount of sense. To be honest, what he did do didn’t seem justified. It all seemed like overkill. It seemed too brutal, even for him.
Hearing her, he nodded. He didn’t have any other choice but just accept her answer for everything. “What do we do now?” He stepped one foot closer to the steps.
She listened, and the idea of doing something with those in the house came back to her thoughts. “Are you good with a shovel?” She smiled, half of one, if it was one at all.
A confused look crossed his eyes. He had no idea what she just meant.
She saw the look and understood it. He would find out soon enough.
39
When they finished burying everyone, they each took a quick shower and headed out back to the town of Castleford. Rachel wanted to see Sasha. She had to tell her about what happened with her friends. She felt terrible about having to tell anyone bad news, so she could only guess how she would take it after hearing everything that happened. Even with that said, she had to do it, so she left it that.
Brandon did the driving, with her not being able to find the strength to do it herself. He felt tired from doing most of the digging, but understood why she didn’t want to drive. She had to tell the dog woman about her friends, and that had to be weighing her down.
Arriving at the clinic, a small white, one storied building just outside the small town’s downtown, he parked in the parking lot at the front of the building. The area already started getting dark, so he parked closer to the front doors. With all that he saw last night, he couldn’t take the chance, or the desire, to make a long walk. Anything could be out there. Why give them the chance to take you?
With the car off, they stood out together and he led her to the front doors.
The lobby looked small. One person sat behind a single counter that ran along a white wall just across from the front doors. A slim, young woman greeted them with a full smile. “Visiting hours are almost over.” Her smile vanished with her words.
To Rachel, she looked tired.
To Brandon, she looked hot. He liked them young and petite. He passed her a smile and winked.
“We’re not going to be long.” Rachel smiled. She did her best. “We’re here to see the young woman that was brought in earlier.”
The young woman, wearing a bright blue blouse that looked nearly as bright as the walls behind her, nodded. “The bear attack?”
Rachel looked to Brandon quickly.
He gave her back a boyish grin and a shrug. What in the hell was I supposed to tell them, a werewolf attacked her? He almost said, but held his breath, so he settled with the grin. What was he supposed to say? Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he even believed it himself.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
The young receptionist smiled again. A subtle nod followed it. “She’s in the last room on the left.
“Thanks.” Brandon looked to Rachel and raised his left arm out towards his left.
“Yes, thank you.” Rachel nodded to his gesture and headed in the direction that his arm pointed.
He followed her, smiling back to the young receptionist one more time before they left her.
Rachel left the small lobby and immediately turned right. The hallway looked small and quaint. It was lined with white walls, which made it look like a small hospital. When she reached the new hallway and when Brandon was with her again, she had to turn and ask, “Bear attack?”
His boyish grin crossed over his face again. “I had to tell them something.”
She chuckled some with that one. “Of course.” He was right.
“She’s this way.” He stepped out ahead of her and led her down the hallway towards a single window that was in the center of the wall at the end of it.
Rachel followed him, and watched as they passed several empty rooms that lined it. Each one looked the same.
When he reached the window, he turned to the left, and walked into the last room first.
Rachel joined him.
A single bed lay at the center of the wall on the right. Sasha was lying on the bed, covered with a single white sheet.
At first, Rachel thought that she was asleep.
Sasha fooled her and opened her eyes; hearing and smelling them come into the room. “Hey.” She smiled.
Rachel could tell that she wore a hospital type of gown just under the sheets. With her wearing it, she couldn’t see the wounds. “How are you?” She smiled and stopped on the right side of the bed as she was facing the wall.
Brandon walked to the foot of the bed and there he stopped just between it and two doors behind him. He knew the room had a single bathroom to it. He also knew that the other door joined this room with the one behind him. He paid neither door any mind.
“Better.” Sasha smiled firmly. She looked tired. She looked almost beaten down, which of course she was. Her pale face looked even paler than normal. Her eyes looked somewhat fogged over with the look of exhaustion heavy over her face. She felt sorry for her lying there. She was nowhere near, what she knew she was.
“Good.” Rachel smiled, and looked up across the bed to the single window of the room. With the night strongly outside, she could see herself in the glass. “How are the wounds?”
Sasha sat up some in the bed. She reached up with her right hand and pulled at the neck of her gown. Her chest was completely covered what looked like bandages and gauze. None of them looked stained with blood. She already started to heal. “They’re better.” She let go of her gown and let it slide back down her neck. “How is Jimmy?” She looked back to Rachel. “Is he okay?” She smiled slightly. Even her face felt sore.
Rachel returned her smile. “He’s fine.” She swallowed. Her eyes spoke for her. They looked like something was wrong.
Sasha could smell it and see it on her face. “What is it?”
Rachel audibly sighed.
Brandon turned from the bed and walked the very short distance to the window at the back of the room, stopped in front of it, and looked out to nothing at all.
Sasha saw his reaction. She heard the sigh. “What’s wrong?”
Rachel bowed her eyes. “I’m sorry for having to be the one to tell you this.” She paused and took a deep breath.
Sasha didn’t like that. Something bad happened—I can see it in her eyes.
Rachel let the pause go. “They’re all dead Sasha.”
Sasha’s eyes immediately exploded with tears. “All of them?” Her voice cracked as her heart broke. Her mind went numb all too fast.
Rachel felt her eyes water as well. “I’m sorry Sasha. Marie and the two others—the woman and the man—all of them are gone.”
Sasha turned her eyes to the wall at the foot of her bed. “How did they die?” she had to ask. There had to be a reason for what happened. Someone had to have caused it. She needed the answer, and she needed it now.
Rachel looked to the window and to Brandon’s back, and tried to focus her thoughts onto everything at once. She wasn’t sure of how to answer her question, especially when she was the reason for their deaths. She let Gary follow her there. She let the man that killed this young girl’s entire family find them and do what he did. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for all of it. How she was going to take it, made everything feel worse. Was she going to hate her for it, as she hated herself? However, she owed her the truth. “The man I told you about—Gary—he shot all of them.”
Sasha listened and sobbed some. Her mind went soft, almost blank. She didn’t know what to feel. She didn’t know what to think. The pain of it all was too much. She couldn’t do anything but let that feeling drape her like a solid rain w
ould soak her soul.
However, there was more. “Samuel’s gone too. He forced Jimmy to fight him. He was also killed.”
Sasha turned her tear soaked eyes back onto her. “He did?” She could barely get out the words. She could barely think straight. “Did Kalima kill him?” It all seemed like a nightmare. It all seemed too messed up. It sounded like hearing about a father and a son fighting to the death.
Rachel shook her head. She had to continue. “Gary came in on them when they were fighting. He shot Samuel.” She had to put some light at the end of the tunnel for her as well. “He almost killed Jimmy—um Kalima too. But he got away.”
Sasha’s young green eyes turned to the ceiling. The tears now flowed down both sides of her young and soft face. She nodded, showing her that she understood everything. I’m alone. My family is gone. Her entire soul felt like nothing more than just a brick that someone just threw into a lake. She felt sinking. She felt completely drowned.
Rachel watched her eyes, and understood everything. Seeing her face turn to anger, she had an idea of where that anger went. She hoped that it wasn’t for her. “Jimmy is safe. He did get away.” She smiled, leaned in some to the bed and brought her left hand down to Sasha’s hand lying on top of the sheet.
Feeling her touch, and hearing what she said brought her eyes back up to hers. “Where is he? Where is he now?”
It wasn’t what she expected to have asked of her. She hated it now that she had to answer it. She didn’t know the answer. “I—” she had to pause, thinking of how best to continue. The lights suddenly going out overhead caused any further thought to leave her just as suddenly. She looked up to the fixture on the ceiling, and looked back to the nightstand just on her right. All of the lights were out. Nothing was on.
Brandon was looking out of the window when the lights went out. Seeing that, he felt forced to turn back to the center of the room. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Now what?” Rachel felt her heart skip. Her mind however flared. The entire room was dark except for the light behind Brandon, coming in through the window. It gave the room an eeriness that all seemed too hard to collect and hold onto at once. It didn’t seem right. It told her that something was very wrong indeed.
Brandon noticed that behind him the lights outside were still coming in through the window, so he turned back to it and looked out.
The lawn on the side of the building was still lit. He could see it curve down into a hill on his right, dropping off and moving to the back of the building. Seeing it, he knew only one thing. “The lights are still on outside.” Seeing that, and thinking it, he knew what it meant. The building was the only thing dark. He didn’t like that idea. It told him that trouble was coming. That alone scared him more than anything else did.
Rachel listened and turned back to the hallway behind her. She left the side of the bed, walked back out into it, and looked both ways.
To her right, the hallway looked dark with shadows everywhere. To her left, the single window in the wall likewise showed the light coming in from outside. It seemed to be the only light around. Seeing that, she went back into the room and stopped again by the bed. “Something’s wrong?” she questioned to both of them.
Sasha pushed herself up in the bed to her elbows, and looked around the room. She tried to focus her thoughts. She tried to smell the air. The only thing there was the hint of bleach. The smell of clean seemed to be everywhere. She could smell within it the hint of Rachel standing beside her, and Brandon on the other side of the room. Further back, behind it all, there was also something else there. She could smell a heavy mustiness, and it seemed to be coming from her left. Smelling it, her heart began to pound and her mind flew high.
Rachel saw her face in the shadows of the room. “What is it?”
Her eyes looked huge. She suddenly looked completely scared.
Brandon heard her and turned back to the room. He left the window and stepped to the other side of the bed.
Sasha turned from him to Rachel. “Someone’s here.” She looked behind Rachel and towards the door.
The smell grew stronger. It became more intense. Another one of them had to be somewhere in the building. It smelled too clear. It smelled like another wolf, and by the smell of it, it had to be coming towards the room.
40
Jimmy woke up that morning completely exposed to the wind. It felt so strong against his naked body that it caused an instant shiver to course through his body. It woke him up easily. He sat up, half expecting to see blood covering him, but didn’t. He looked completely clean, so he looked down to his right hand and could remember something biting him. It seemed hard to remember fully, everything felt like a dream, but he did remember something, so he had to make sure. Looking at it and holding it up, he could see that it looked somewhat bloodied. Teeth marks were clearly visible from his thumb to his wrist. He bit me. He realized that he remembered it. He remembered being the wolf. He remembered the fight. He remembered Samuel being shot. It all still seemed to be there. He could remember everything.
He sat up, and looked around to where he was, and saw that he was lying on rocks. In fact, he was sitting on what looked like giant boulders. He looked further, seeing the bright blue sky overhead, and saw what looked like the tops of trees all around him. It took another few looks until he realized that he must be high up, maybe even on a mountain.
Wincing, he stood up, bringing both of his hands over his groin. He had no idea where he was, and didn’t want to take the chance that someone might see him. He felt semi embarrassed, so he couldn’t do anything else.
Standing there, looking way off to the horizon, he could see a large river running ahead of him. He knew that it had to be the Hudson. He knew that it was the only large river around for miles. It looked far away, far down from where he was. How in the hell did I get up here? He thought about it. Deep inside, he could remember something about being chased. He chased me up here. Gary! He spun around, and looked back to the trees. He looked around the rocks, but Gary wasn’t there. Seeing that, he took a deep breath.
All he could smell was pine. The smell of earth was everywhere. Gary’s stench was nowhere there, and realizing that, he shrugged again. I came up here to watch for him. I ran from him. He couldn’t keep up. It all made sense, so he nodded. Now there was only one thing left to think, I have to get back to Rachel. I have to find her. I have to tell her that I’m all right. He blinked. He had to get back to the lodge. He had to find some clothes. He had to check on Sasha. Everything made sense, so he headed off, down the rocks and headed back into the trees.
He walked for what felt like miles. Being naked, he tried hard to keep to the trees and to keep to the cover of them. He didn’t want to come along a hiker or anyone else that would see him, so why risk it. It was nearly dark when he finally made it back to the lodge. It took him most of the day to get back there. When he saw the porch to the house, he approached it cautiously. He had to do it. He wasn’t sure if Gary was still there waiting for him or not.
He ran to the porch. He ran to the side of the front door, and there, he looked in before heading in.
No one was there. The house stood still.
He went inside and looked down to the floor on his right. Blood was still there, but it looked dried. Susanna was gone.
He looked over to the sofa, or where it used to be, and likewise, Markey was gone too.
At the archway into the dining room, Marie was no longer there.
The room still smelled like blood, but that was it. They must have removed them. He looked to the side of the staircase on his left, and saw something white fluttering in the slight breeze from the still open front door, so he made his way to it, and found a small notebook sized piece of paper taped to the railing. It had handwriting on it. It was from Rachel.
He removed the sheet and brought it up to read it.
Jimmy,
We went to the clinic.
Rachel
They must
have gone to see Sasha. He nodded. The paper smelled of her. He breathed it in, and loved the scent.
He turned from the stairs and looked back to the center of the room, and seeing everything, or that lack of it, he took everything in. Suddenly, he felt odd. He felt like this was the last time he would ever see the place again, and he didn’t know why. He also knew that he would miss it. He could never come back there again, and he knew it.
He turned and looked back to the stairs. There are clothes in a closet in the bedroom at the top of the stairs. I can find something to wear. Again, he didn’t know why he knew this, but he didn’t care. He just climbed the stairs, found the bedroom, and found the closet right where he knew it was. He found the clothes and got dressed.
Finished, he headed back downstairs and left, shutting the front door behind him as he did so. He then ran to the stairs and left the porch. He went straight to the trees. He ran as fast as he could go and never looked back.
41
“Who is it?” Rachel asked, feeling herself tighten. She didn’t have any idea of what to expect, and after what happened last night, she didn’t want any more surprises. She didn’t think that she could take it anymore of it.
“It has to be a wolf. I don’t know who it is.” Sasha brought herself into a seated position as the smell continued, faded, and then continued again. It smelled strong and very familiar. It smelled like him. It smelled like the wolf that attacked them last night in the barn. She could almost swear by it.
Brandon left the window, made his way over to the foot of the bed again and stopped there, staring at the door. He didn’t like anything that he heard so far, and could only hear his own heart racing in his chest. The only thing roaming around inside his head was, Here we go again.
Rachel turned back to the doorway and stopped. She could hear a thudding sound coming from the hallway. It sounded like footsteps. They sounded heavy. They sounded large. She didn’t like the sound. “It’s coming down the hallway.” Hearing them, she froze. She felt lost. She almost felt helpless.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 1, 2, & 3 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets) Page 52