by Chanel Hardy
“I had already killed two people when Jax found me,” said Will as he put down the bear trap. “My last victim was a kid, an eight-year-old boy.” Will pressed his lips, trying to hold back tears as he recalled the memory. “After that, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I grabbed my gun and called my momma to tell her I loved her. Then, I put the pistol in my mouth and pulled the trigger.”
River’s eyes widened as she listened to his heartbreaking testimony. His story was beginning to sound a bit too familiar. She thought about the eight-year-old boy Will mentioned, and then everything became clear.
“It’s you,” she whispered. “You’re midnightclaw.” She remembered she had read his blog entries the day she turned for the first time.
Will stared at her. “You read my blog?”
River couldn’t believe it was him, but it made sense. The location, the amount of time that Will and Jax have been friends. Jax told River that he met Will in 2014, and Will was the same age as the man from the blog based on the profile details.
Will chuckled. “I can’t believe anyone actually read those or that I actually wrote that stuff.”
River smiled. “Your posts helped me when I was in denial. I remember reading them and getting goosebumps. I thought to myself, this can’t be real.” River stared blankly as she recollected the events of that fateful day. “I turned that same night. But the turn wasn’t the only thing that changed me.” River fiddled with the edges of her sleeves.
“Well, I’m no hero. I was just a troubled guy with nowhere else to turn.” Will got up from the table, walking over to the counter to grab a trash bag from the cabinet underneath the sink. “The night I tried to blow my brains out, was the night Jax found me. I missed the shot. Then, I was unconscious and woke up disfigured.” Will stood at the counter with his hands clenched and his head down. “Jax was following me that day. It’s a good thing that he was, or I would’ve bled out on that floor.” He turned around to face River. “He took me to the hospital, where I was pronounced dead not too long after. But they were wrong. I wasn’t dead. I got a second chance.”
River could tell the situation was difficult for him to discuss. River got up from the table and walked toward him. Will leaned his back against the counter, too ashamed to look River in the eyes as she came closer.
River stood in front of him. “I thought about it, too. Suicide.”, She raised her left hand to touch the scar on his face, but he caught her hand before she could reach him.
“Don’t do that.” Will’s nostrils flared as he breathed heavily, and his eyes pierced into hers. He grabbed the black garbage bag, stomped back to the table, and tossed the dead rabbit inside it.
“I didn’t mean to. It was rude. I’m sorr-”
“Don’t ever think about taking your own life.” Will continued. He walked back over to River, with the trash bag dangling from his side. “The healing process is ugly, River. Coming to terms with what we are? It’s shit. But it takes accountability, which brings guilt. It’s triggering, but processing trauma often means you have to relive it. It sucks, but it’s how we get through it. Being alive is always worth it.”
River stood there, allowing his words to resonate with her. She felt his pain, every ounce of it, and knew he could feel hers, too. After all, they were more alike than she and Jax could ever be. They were human beings thrown into a world of death, darkness, and torture. They had to abandon everything they had ever known to live this life. A life of the cursed.
Will placed his hand on River’s shoulder. “Jax is like a brother to me. Whatever happened back in Chicago, it’s in the past now. Just know that when the day comes, I’ll be ready to fight whatever battle comes your way. If I’m going to die, I’m taking some purebreds with me.”
Chapter 7
Theodora Banks
2232 Borders Ln #102
Alexandria, VA
The council and two of their henchmen approached the three-story apartment building at ten past midnight. They broke the lock on the front door and headed to the unit of 26-year-old Theodora Banks. She was the first on Jax’s list, and the first fey to face the brutal interrogation of the council. Lester knocked once, making sure that he and the rest of them were in perfect view of the peep hole. Lester knocked again, and this time they could hear someone approaching.
“Who is it?” Theodora asked with a raspy voice.
“’Theodora Banks,’ said Lester in a low, sinister voice, ‘We have a few questions for you if you’d be so kind as to open the door.’”
She paused, frightened and unsure if she should answer. “Just a minute.” Theodora ran to her bedroom to grab her gun from under her bed. She approached her door slowly, with the gun held up to her cheek. She unlocked the top lock, opening the door slightly, with the chain still attached. “Who are you?”
“We are the council.” Answered Lester.
She inhaled suddenly. Fear rushed through her as she realized what was going on. Pushing the door closed, one of the henchmen kicked it open, sending Theodora flying backwards. One of the henchmen pulled out a tranquilizer gun, and shot a dart laced with a sedative flying into her leg. Before her screams could reach the top of her throat, she was unconscious.
“Grab her now.” Kareem ordered the henchmen to take Theodora to the car quickly and quietly. They tossed her in the trunk of the black SUV, leaving the scene as discreetly as possible.
They took Theodora to a nearby wooded area, parking the car on the side of the road and leaving one henchman to be the lookout. They dragged her about a mile and a half deep into the woods, her arms and legs bound by thick rope and her mouth duct taped. Lester tossed a bucket of ice-cold water over Theodora’s head, causing her to wake up. It didn’t take long for the panic to set in before she began to wiggle frantically, with muffled screams coming through the duct tape.
Kareem knelt down, reaching for her mouth. “I’m going to remove the tape. Don’t scream. Nobody will hear you and quite honestly, it’ll give me a migraine.” He snatched the tape from her mouth, and going against his request, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Help me! Somebody! Please!”
Kareem huffed, and snapped his finger at the henchmen, who came over, ramming his right foot into the side of Theodora’s head. Her vision became blurry, the pain from the kick was unbearable.
“I told you not to scream, didn’t I?” Kareem laughed, and the other council members joined in as Theodora cried from the pain. “We know you are an acquaintance of Jackson. The purebred that helps feys. We know all about his little adventures. Well, Jackson is a wanted man, and we know that he’s seeking asylum.” Kareem ran his fingers through Theodora’s blonde hair. “Guess who was number one on his little list? You.”
“I don’t know where he is! I swear!” Theodora pleaded, her face soaked from her tears.
“Has he contacted you at all?” Kareem asked in a demanding voice.
“No. I haven’t seen or heard from Jackson in years. Not since he helped me.”
“You’re lying! Where is he?” Kareem screamed at her.
“I’m not lying I swear! Please! I don’t know where he is! I don’t know!” Theodora cried as her life hung in the hands of the council.
“She’s useless. Let’s move on.” Suggested Lester. Kareem knew there was a chance that she was telling the truth. But he wasn’t about to let her get off easy.
“I’m going to ask you one more time young lady. You want to live, right?” Kareem fiddled with her blonde hair again. She sobbed on the cold, wet ground. She didn’t know how else she could convince them that she didn’t know anything. “Do you know where he is?” Kareem asked again.
“I don’t know.” Theodora said with a sunken voice. Kareem pressed his lips, looking at his brothers. There was no use in torturing her any longer. He ran his eyes back to Theodora, caressing her blonde locks as she lay there, shivering and petrified.
“I think we’re done here fellas.” He got up, reaching over to grab a bag
that the henchman had been holding. He pulled out a small canister of liquid. Gasoline. He proceeded to pour it all over Theodora, drenching her from head to toe. She coughed and gaged, her eyes expanding with terror when she realized what it was.
“No! Please! I told you I didn’t know anything!” She begged for her life as Kareem pulled a packet of matches from his pocket. He peered into her with hell in his eyes. A look so demonic as her terror filled him with pleasure.
“You didn’t think we’d let you live, did you?” The sides of his mouth raised, forming a disturbing grin. “You feys are a poison that has coursed through the veins of our community for far too long. We must purify our society once and for all.” He pulled a single matchstick, igniting a flame as he ran the tip against the strip. He tossed the matchstick onto Theodora, watching as she wailed out in agony as the flames engulfed her.
“Let’s go. Leave her.” Kareem and the rest of the men turned to head out the woods and back to the car. The flames increased behind them, leaving behind nothing but Theodora’s burning flesh. Kareem pulled a folded piece of paper from the inside of his jacket, unfolding it as they walked. “Let’s see whose next.”
Chapter 8
It was the morning before the full moon, and Christmas eve. It had been almost a month since Jax and River arrived at Will’s house, and with no sign of the council on their tails things were beginning to feel almost normal again. They went out only during the day, two at a time. Using traps and snares that Will put together to catch their meals.
River would usually stay behind, watching the cameras with the walkie-talkie in hand as the other two set out to collect whatever the traps caught. Most of the time, they caught Jack rabbits that roamed around the land all hours of the day. Sometimes they caught racoons, which weren’t as tasty, but kept them fed. Catching a deer was rare, unless they went out to hunt for them. But that required more patience and time out in the open, which would put them at risk.
When they weren’t out collecting traps, they stayed inside the bunker trying to keep themselves busy. Reading, watching tv from the vintage 12-inch box that Will had hooked up in the other room. He had two other identical tv’s in his room, which ran footage from the cameras that he had set up in the front of the house, and in the back. Will was quite the engineer, with various clever ways to keep the house guarded, even while they slept.
The house originally belonged to Will’s uncle, who was a doomsday prepper which explained the bunkers. When he died, the home was left abandoned, and ended up becoming a safe haven for Will. He left his hometown of Marion five months after his attack, right after he met Jax. Will took what Jax taught him, combined with his own resourcefulness and made a life for himself in Bertram. Secluded, alone, and safe from the council.
River and Will stood on the porch, bundled up in their thick winter coats. Laughing and conversing about pop culture from the early 2000’s. “I can’t believe you missed the entire last season of The Wire! You missed out, the last episode was pretty good!” River nudged Will with her elbow.
“I lost interest after season three. It just lost its spark.” Said Will, with one hand in his pocket, and the other holding a cigarette.
“What? You’re crazy! That was my show! You suck.” River teased, grinning at him playfully. Jax came outside carrying two empty garbage bags, catching them in the middle of their conversation.
“What did I miss?” He asked, looking at both River and Will.
“Just chatting. We all set?” Will asked, tossing his cigarette butt on the ground and smashing it out with his foot.
“Yeah.” Jax handed Will one of the garbage bags. He turned to River. “We’ll be back in an hour. You know the drill.”
“Actually…” River bit her bottom lip, then turned to look at Will, then back at Jax. “I want to go out this time. With Will. You should stay here and relax. You’ve done so much already.”
Jax’s eyebrows raised. River’s request was unexpected. “Are you sure?” He asked, sounding unconvinced.
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Will reassured him. River moved in closer to Jax. Placing her soft gloves on his cold, red cheekbones, she leaned upwards and planted a kiss on his lips.
“I’ll be fine.” She smiled, and grabbed the trash bag from his hands. She proceeded to follow Will away from the house, trudging through the snow to collect the previous night’s prey.
Will led her a half mile away, where the trees grew taller and the woods began to deepen. She hadn’t gone this far out, and was surprised at how much land Will’s uncle owned. Will led her towards one of his bear traps, that had a dead, bloody Jack Rabbit confined between its claws. River stared at the dead rabbit, almost feeling sorry for the poor animal. Will pulled the bear trap up by its chain, with the rabbit’s nearly severed head swinging side to side.
“They’re just like us.” River uttered to Will through chattering teeth, as he tossed the trap into the plastic bag.
“Huh?” Will replied, not really paying attention.
“These animals. They were just minding their business, and out of nowhere, their lives were taken from them. Just like us.” River stood there with her shoes buried in snow. Small flurries of snowflakes landed on her nose as she looked up at the overcast sky.
“Well, being near the bottom of the food chain sucks. But if they don’t die, we don’t eat.” Will gave her a lighthearted smirk. River walked a few feet to remove a small pile of snow from a tree stump, before sitting down. Will looked at her, confused.
“What are you doing?” He asked, shifting his weight from one foot to another. “We don’t have time to take breaks.” River focused on the snow beneath her.
“Do you remember your first kill?” She asked, still not looking up.
Her question caught Will off guard, as he looked vacantly at River with no response. “Well, I know feys don’t typically remember anything when we’ve turned. But did you ever find out who they were?” She looked up at him, blowing cold air from between her lips. Will walked over to where she was sitting, gesturing for her to scoot over so he could squat down next to her on the stump. He placed the trash bag on the ground between his legs.
“I don’t know who my first kill was. I could smell the blood, but when I watched the news for the next few days after I turned, I didn’t see anything about a dead body being found. I figured it was probably a drifter. Someone that didn’t have a family looking for them.” Will pulled off his hood, allowing his dreads to fall over his shoulders. “How about you?” He turned to River, waiting to hear her story.
“I killed my rapist.” River was surprised at how smoothly the sentence rolled off of her tongue. This was her first time talking about the rape to anyone other than Tatiana and Tasha.
“Woah.” Will’s eyebrows raised, taken aback by her confession. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I can’t even imagine how it must’ve felt after you killed him. Good, I hope.”
“Actually, no. Not at first. I was horrified when I realized what I had done. That I had killed somebody. A person.”
“You killed a disgusting piece of shit. Not a person.” Will placed his arm around her, in an attempt to console her. River accepted his embrace, leaning her head into his side.
“Jax doesn’t even know. He knows I killed Marco, but he doesn’t know that Marco raped me.” River began to feel the guilt of keeping this secret from him. “I don’t know why I haven’t told him yet. I want to… I just…” River couldn’t even put her feelings into words.
“You don’t have to tell anyone anything if you don’t want to. You don’t owe anyone your trauma. Not even your boyfriend.” River appreciated him saying that, but it still didn’t take away her issue of keeping it from Jax. She had just shared the most traumatic experience of her young life with this man sitting next to her. She knew she owed the guy who loved her the same trust.
“He told me he loved me. The night we got away. The first time I ever heard him say it.” River thought back to
that night in the rain. How Jax held her and promised her that his commitment was unfeigned.
“Do you love him, River?” Will asked.
River hesitated. This was the first time her love for Jax had ever been questioned. “I care about him more than anything. I really do. But considering the only other people I ever cared about are dead, I guess that’s not saying much, huh?” She chuckled faintly. “Love is, complicated. But if you truly love him, your heart will tell you when the time is right.” Will hugged her tightly with his left arm still draped around her. Will was like the big brother she never had. Having Will in her life was her first time platonically bonding with a male who wasn’t her father. She appreciated his existence, at a time when she needed support the most.
“Thanks Will.” She peered up at him, giving him a warm smile and getting one in return.
“Don’t mention it. Now let’s hurry up and finish with these traps, my ass is freezing.” They both laughed, standing back on their feet to continue rounding up their catching for the day.
∞∞∞
The sky grew dark as the sun was beginning to set. Will had already filled River in on his prep procedure for the full moon. Whenever he caught a deer, he kept the carcasses frozen in a deep freezer in the basement. He kept them specifically for the full moon.
One of the most vital tips for turning that Jax shared with the feys he encountered, was the “ball and chain” method. The “ball and chain” method is a trick where shifters attach a dead animal, or any huge chunk of raw meat to a hook. This hook is attached to a chain that they clamp around their leg. It keeps the beast distracted, like a dog chasing its tail. Eight pounds would usually do the trick, and Will kept more than that on hand.