Blood Cursed

by H. L. Graham

  “Hannah, you just ate raw beef. Raw beef. Are you nuts? You don’t come near steak unless it is overcooked. This is raw, are you looking to get intestinal worms or some other parasite. Some new fad diet?” Gaven stared at me in surprise.

  I finally began to digest the meaning of his words, “I ate what, raw beef, yuck.” I started to wipe my tongue with a napkin. “Yuck, yuck. What’s going on? Yuck.”

  I jumped around the kitchen wiping my tongue while looking for a glass of water to get the taste out of my mouth. I don’t have any political issues with beef. It’s just that I ate a bad hamburger as a kid. Since then, unless it’s charred, the thought of beef makes me feel sick. So, I’ve been successfully avoiding raw or undercooked meat since I was about 15 years old. Until a minute ago.

  Leslie and Gaven laughed hysterically as they watched me dance to the refrigerator and drain the last of the V8. It was the only thing I could find that would stick to my tongue and take away the meat taste.

  “I’m sure the crazy Hannah show has been so much fun for the two of you, but could help me find something non-repulsive for dinner?” I said sarcastically as I threw the empty V8 bottle at them.

  They jumped to their feet. Gaven caught it easily, tossed it to Leslie who tucked it under his arm like a football as he pretended to fake out Gaven on his way to the trash can. “Uh, recycle bin, smart asses,” I added.

  Leslie stepped toward the garbage and pivoted toward the recycle bin where he easily spiked the bottle into the bin. “Six points,” he shouted.

  “Tough game,” Gaven high fived Leslie. They both laughed.

  I rolled my eyes and turned back to the refrigerator, “Ok then how about this?” I asked as I grabbed for some ground turkey, held it up to my nose and breathed deep. I immediately forgot Gaven and Leslie’s football game, engrossed in my new find.

  Leslie and Gaven began to talk about baseball season and their favorite teams. A conversation I purposely ignored for fear of a boredom induced coma. I watched them talk for a minute, waiting for a break in the conversation, then gave up.

  “Oh, I can’t wait.” I complained dumping the meat into a bowl, adding spices and forming burgers. “Gaven could you please go fire up the grill?” I added absent mindedly as I focused all my attention on the burgers coming into shape in my palms.

  Gaven and Leslie watched silently as I worked on the burgers. They exchanged curious looks. Leslie raised his eyebrow in question and Gaven shrugged his shoulders in response.

  “Uh, Hannah, have you truly lost your mind?” Gaven and Leslie watched me with amused confusion on their faces. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you handle raw meat.”

  I looked down at my hands, covered in slime from the fat of the turkey burgers. Pieces of meat were lodged under my fingernails.

  “Oh, this,” I answered. “I don’t know. I just made them.”

  Leslie looked at me. “You’re always saying how gross it feels. You won’t even come near the meat until it’s fully cooked. Did you forget about the raw meat you just ate? I’m pretty sure we just witnessed the Ickey shuffle.”

  Leslie hopped around the kitchen on one foot badly imitating me.

  Gaven laughed at Leslie’s joke. I, of course frowned, but only to make them feel bad about laughing at me.

  “Hannah, you did look silly, so don’t make that face. You overreacted to the beef and now you’re forming burgers like you’re molding clay. You’ve complained about the terrible smell of meat since we were kids. You always throw a hissy if it’s not cooked to death.” Gaven added.

  I huffed, “Well maybe I’ve worked through my raw meat phobia and I’m cured of my psychosis.” I smiled my best smart-ass smile.

  On the outside, I looked annoyed, but on the inside, I worried about my new love for raw meat. Concerned this might have something to do with my dream, all my questions about my ancestry floated through my thoughts.

  “You conquered your phobia in less than two minutes?” Gaven asked confused. “That must be a record. Let’s call Guinness.”

  Smiling, I handed him the plate of burgers. “Yup. Just call me Super Shrink, able to defeat psychosis in a single bound.”

  Gaven shook his head, “I wonder about you woman.”

  The guys grabbed the burgers and headed to the patio to cook while I cleaned up. I couldn’t stop thinking about the man from my dream. How he cut open the wolf. For a moment, I was back in my dream. I felt the cold wind blowing on my face. I watched the fog of my breath floating away. Blood gushed from the wolf onto the snow-covered ground. I licked my lips, anticipating the taste of warm blood and raw flesh. I looked down at where my hands should have been and saw paws. My breath caught in my throat and I awoke from the daydream.

  Standing in the kitchen, my hands were under the burning hot water. Jumping back, I cursed as I switched the faucet to cold. I thrust my hands under the cold water to ease the burning sensation. The pain subsided. I quickly washed the rest of the grease from my fingers. I needed to stop daydreaming, I told myself. I might get severely hurt next time. But why was I daydreaming of eating raw meat and blood? What the hell’s that about?

  A few minutes passed as I set the table with every condiment I could find. The three of us had very separate tastes when it came to burgers, so we needed ketchup, mustard, mayo, relish, onion, tomato, cheese, barbeque sauce, and hot sauce. We each created our own masterpiece combination which we all claimed to be the best. It has sort of developed into a challenge, but no winners, ever. Just a continual stream of friendly banter and arguing.

  Leslie and Gaven came back in the kitchen with the cooked burgers. They didn’t smell so appetizing anymore. They smelled of dead burnt flesh and my mouth wanted juicy bloody flesh. Ahhh, what was wrong with me?

  The guys quickly sat, prepared their burgers and were half finished before I could bring myself to sit at the table. I slowly lowered myself into the chair. I choose the rarest burger on the platter, loaded it with my favorite cheese, relish and tomato and took a bite. It was still a bit raw in the middle. Okay, not so bad. I must have gotten over my revulsion of raw meat, because my body was craving it and man was it tasty.

  I thought about phobias and how people overcome them. One way to treat phobias is a technique called flooding. You overexpose the person to the very thing that frightens them. You keep overexposing them until the person begins to deal with the stimulus and their fear level decreases. Maybe I flooded myself with raw meat and now I love it? I would have to consult my diagnostic books when I went back to the office. There is always a reasonable and rational explanation if you just look for it.

  Gaven and Leslie started on their second burgers at a more reasonable pace.

  “So, anything new with your investigation?’ Gaven asked. “Our neighbor heard some rumors about there being a person behind the attacks. I also saw it in the paper?” he added.

  Leslie sat back and wiped the ketchup and grease from his mouth. He took a long sip of beer, a deep breath, then looked at me with the most serious look I can remember.

  “I wanted to talk to you about that. We believe a human is behind the attacks. This person has large animal experience and completely controls whom the animal targets. Based on the bite marks, the animal is wolf like, but significantly greater sized. All the victims are young women and the attacks only occur around the full moon. This is all a mystery as we are having difficulty figuring out the motive.”

  “So it’s true?” I asked wiping my mouth.

  “Yeah I still want you to be careful. Don’t go anywhere without Gaven during the next two weeks leading up to the full moon.” This was the most worried I have seen him.

  Gaven studied Leslie’s expression. “What are you not telling us?” he asked.

  Leslie picked up his beer and drained it. “I’ve reason to believe you’re on the intended victim list. Hannah, I think you may be the next one attacked.”

  “Are you crazy? No way!” I looked back and forth from Gaven to Leslie and
back to Gaven. Gaven’s eyes were dark and his jaw set in anger. “Leslie tell me you’re joking.” I laughed nervously.

  “I’m not joking.” He answered.

  Gaven jumped up from the table and began to pace the room. He was muttering to himself and I couldn’t make out what he was saying. The water faucet turned on then off as Gaven paced past the sink. I winkled my forehead watching Gaven. Did he just do that? I didn’t see his hand reach toward the sink. I must have missed it.

  Leslie walked over to him. “Gaven you know I will do everything I can to keep Hannah safe. I know I’m getting close. We’ll find this person and put them away, hopefully forever.”

  Gaven looked into Leslie’s eyes and spoke in a tone I’ve never heard. “If anything happens to Hannah, I will shred this person.”

  “I understand how you feel. I’ve already been planning for the next full moon to keep her protected. Please come sit down and let me finish telling you what I know.”

  Gaven sat, but the murderous look in his eyes stayed.

  Leslie continued, “All the victims were related.”

  I laughed feeling relieved. “Leslie, I saw the names of the victims, I’m not related to any of them. You must have made a mistake.”

  “Yes, you are.” He looked me in the eyes. “They’re all very distant relatives. You’d never know without some major research. They’re your cousins from generations ago. Your family branch immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the early 1900’s. Many members of your extended family left Eastern Europe and dispersed across the globe. Names changed as they assimilated and married into families with new cultures. But between WWI and WWII, many of them had the same idea to come to America to start a new life. Eventually, some of them wound up in Florida. I’m quite sure none of you knew you were related being extremely distant cousins. From what I figure, you have a common ancestor from about seven generations ago. We couldn’t trace everyone around the world who have either disappeared or died.”

  My mouth hung open as I tried to grasp what he was saying. Gaven held the same shocked expression. “Ok, so how does this involve me?” I asked.

  “Apparently the murderer is targeting and killing women in their 20’s and 30’s. I’m not sure why this group is being targeted, but you’re in the group. According to my research, you and Rebecca are the only two left. I believe, come the next full moon, you’ll both targeted.”

  “But why?” I couldn’t think of a single reason someone would want to hurt me. I’ve never hurt anyone.

  “We are not sure why someone decided to target your family. I’m still trying to find a motive. I haven’t figured out the why or the who, but I will.” He seemed to be convincing himself as well as Gaven and I.

  I was overwhelmed. “Leslie I can’t hear anymore, please stop.”

  “I have no reason to believe anything will happen until the full moon. We have two weeks to prepare and I want to put a detail on your house at night and one at your office during the day.” He added more confidently.

  I started to feel the room get smaller. My breathing became shallow. I felt trapped like a caged animal. I realized I was rubbing the cut on my shoulder and it was ached to high hell. I starred at a speck of dirt on the tile floor trying to focus my thoughts on the mundane task of cleaning. It will feel so good to sweep up the dirt and all the other little pieces covering my white tile. Sounds started to muffle. I could hear Gaven and Leslies’ voices, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I pulled my hand away from my shoulder and blood stained my fingertips. A surge of energy flashed through my body, lifting me to my feet.

  Staring at Leslie, I screamed “No fucking way. I’ve had quite enough of this crap. I don’t want police officers following me around all day long. Show me proof of your little theory. Does anyone else believe this stupid crap?” Pissed off, I couldn’t control my anger and it was all directed at Leslie. I didn’t understand where the anger came from. It coursed through my body, enveloping me. I imagined jumping on Leslie and tearing off his ear. I paced the kitchen, my hand covering the blood on my shoulder. I waited for him to do something stupid so I could attack.

  I smelled a rise in adrenalin levels from both Gaven and Leslie. Each man had a unique energy signature I could sense. Leslies’ felt anxious, confused and concerned. He sat quietly waiting for my anger to burn itself out. Experience told him I would cool down and become rational again.

  Gavens’ energy felt so different. It felt liquid, cool. He also watched me as he sat quietly. I saw a swirl of blue in his distant eyes, followed by a spark of silver. I stopped pacing and quietly staring into his eyes, mesmerized. The wind billowed from my sails under Gaven’s soothing gaze.

  Leslie didn’t hide his disappointment in my anger. He was well used to dealing with angry and upset people, so he spoke slowly and calmly. “Well, to be honest, I am the only one who believes this ‘stupid ass theory.’ The Captain does agree we should protect you since you fit the victim profile.”

  Feeling confused, I decided to focus on Leslie. I slowly shifted my gaze from Gaven.

  “I think it’s time for you to leave,” Gaven stepped in. “Let me handle Hannah, and I’ll call you tomorrow.” Oh, that woke me up. No one handles me!

  “You are not going to handle me. It’s my life and I’ll choose what happens next.” I growled at him.

  Leslie nodded at Gaven, mumbled some quick thanks for dinner and something about waiting for Gaven to call. He slipped out the front door knowing a marital squabble would ensue. He probably decided even though I was acting like a crazy person, Gaven could handle it.

  As Leslie shut the door, I pulled my hand from my shoulder and began to lick the blood from my fingertips. I must have made some frightening noises for Gaven to step back from me quietly.

  He spoke slowly trying not to make eye contact, “Hannah?” I growled at the intrusion. He waited another minute, “Hannah.” I saw him standing quietly waiting for my response.

  With my adrenaline pumping, and in no mood to calm down, I ran from the kitchen and began to pace the living room. Gaven walked over to me very slowly, the same way you would approach a wild animal. He kept his eyes on the ground while moving slowly toward me. He finally made eye contact. They looked normal again. I cocked my head over to the side as I inspected his eyes for blue swirls. Was it the lights playing tricks again?

  “Hannah, I need you to listen to me.” I focused on his words, but growled again, less threatening this time. “Look at your nails.” Following his eyes, I noticed my nails had grown an inch and were pointed at the tips. My mind began to process the last few minutes. Shock coursed through my body, my mind clouded with new feelings. No not feelings, instincts. I wanted to either attack or to run away, but I fought both urges and stared at Gaven. If I could just look into his green eyes and nothing else, I would be alright. I hoped they would start swirling again. I must be hallucinating.

  “Ok, now follow me to the bathroom. I want you to look in the mirror.” He slowly backed into the bathroom. Ignoring everything else around me, I followed as he continued to back himself into the bathroom. He stood near the toilet allowing plenty of space in front of the mirror. Gaven nodded toward the mirror. I turned to look and caught his gaze in the reflection. Taking a deep breath, I looked at myself. My eyes were still blue, but my pupils did not look human. And they were glowing. Stepping back, I bumped into the tub and plopped down onto edge with a thump.

  I couldn’t stop staring at my reflection. The longer I looked, the more they glowed. Hypnotized by the brightness, they pulled me deeper with every passing minute. Feeling dizzy, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the blackness. I wanted this to be a hallucination, but knew it was real since Gaven saw it too.

  He was right, my dream did have meaning. It meant I would turn into a wolf like the man in my dream. All that crap Leslie talked about was also true. The witch cursed me all those years ago. I would walk as a wolf, killing to survive. It was real. I began to c
ry, putting my hands to my face. My wolf nails accidentally scratched my cheek shocking me. I let out a heartbreaking moan, grieving the loss of my old self and afraid of my new self.

  I felt Gaven place his hand on my arm. I flinched and held my hand out with one finger pointed up, so he would give me another minute, my eyes closed the entire time. He exhaled deeply as the tension began to pass.

  I had to think.

  Ok, number one: my hands and eyes had changed into wolf claws and eyes. Number two, I had a wound on my shoulder from a witch in my dream. And number three, I just freaked out on one of my best friends. I looked at him and my husband like those big T-bone steaks you see in cartoons. What does this all mean?

  Opening my eyes, I looked into the mirror and saw the wolf from my dream. The room began to spin. I reached for Gaven as I fell into the darkness.

  Chapter 10

  I awoke in Gaven’s arms with a wet towel on my forehead and a lump on the back of my head.

  “How long was I out?” my voice cracked.

  Gaven smiled down on me, “A minute or two. Long enough for me to get this wet towel on your head. You’re going to have a nasty bump for a few days. But, I think you’ll live.”

  “That’s the worst of my problems,” I attempted to sit up, felt dizzy and laid back down. “Do I still look…?” I paused, afraid of the answer.

  “You look normal.” Gaven said quickly. “When you passed out, your nails went back to normal and I assumed your eyes followed suit.”

  Ok, so it comes and goes. That made me feel, oh so much better. Not!

  Gaven set a cup of water next on the floor and attempted to prop me against the tub in a semi-inclined position. No dizziness, yeah.

  “Drink very slowly,” he instructed, “I want you conscious so we can talk about what’s happening.”

  I nodded. Bad idea, I thought as my head spun for a second. Slowly sipping the cool water was not such a horrible task. “I’m ready to move to the sofa.”