Cursed

by Brent Miller

  The pieces were falling together in Garrick’s mind. She’d been protecting him the whole time. She hadn’t shared the fact that she’d found the messages, but somehow someone else got ahold of them. Not only would it look bad for him to resist their questions, he knew it would bring his mother into question as well.

  “Mom,” Garrick spoke up, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. I have nothing to hide, and if I can say anything that can help them, I need to do that. I’ll follow you guys to the station.”

  “It’s probably better if you ride with us,” one of the officers suggested. “So you can leave the car for your mom to come get you.”

  “You want me to ride in the back of a police car, and yet you’re telling me that I’m not under arrest?”

  “You’re free to do as you like, sir. It was just a suggestion,” the officer responded sarcastically.

  “Garrick, you don’t have to do this,” his mom advised him.

  “I know, Mom. It’s just a few questions.”

  “Well, then I’ll take you myself. I have someone I’d like to speak to at the station anyway.” She glared at the officers again as she spoke, and they walked away silently to their car. She looked down at her son and sighed before walking with him to the car. The whole ride, Garrick focused on remembering Cailean’s first rule: control your breathing.

  “Alright, so first I will ask a few questions to establish a baseline,” an officer explained to Garrick. They’d hooked Garrick up to a polygraph. Nothing Cailean had practiced with him had prepared him for that, but he hoped he’d be able to improvise. If he could convince himself he was telling the truth, he could control his heart rate. He’d stayed calm with Cailean, why wouldn’t he be able to now?

  “What is your name?”

  “Garrick Elliott.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “Great. So when was the last time you talked to Chase?”

  “The day he ran away.”

  “And did he talk about running away?”

  “Oddly enough, he didn’t mention it,” Garrick responded. He could feel his heart rate already increasing, so he decided to feign annoyance as an explanation as he tried to calm himself down.

  “Are you aware you were the last person to communicate with him before his disappearance?”

  “No.”

  “You didn’t know he texted you?”

  “I knew he texted me. That wasn’t your question.”

  “I see. Do you know where he would have gone?”

  “No,” Garrick groaned. After he’d settled down from the initial fear of the entire process, he didn’t have too much difficulty keeping his pulse steady. For the most part, nothing he was saying was inherently a lie, so he didn’t have too much difficulty convincing himself it was the truth. They were going down the wrong path, asking the wrong questions, so they weren’t likely to get to anything incriminating.

  “Do you think there’s a possibility this wasn’t by choice?”

  “What?” Garrick asked, a bit of fear seeping into his voice. By the sound of the machine, it seemed to register a faster heart rate, and that scared him more. He could feel himself losing control, which only served to concern him more.

  “It doesn’t sound like he’d want to run away. And nothing in your messages mention it. Was there anyone who didn’t like Chase?”

  “No,” Garrick snapped. He was in equal parts concerned that the questioning was changing direction and angry that someone would insinuate that Chase had enemies. “No one. Ever.”

  “Garrick, I need you to calm down.”

  “How? I’m sorry, but you’re asking me questions that make me think that you don’t think you’ll find him. Chase is one of my best friends, and it sounds like you’ve given up! The fact that you brought me here and strapped me into this thing proves to me that you’re desperate, and now you’re asking me if he had any enemies!”

  Garrick felt tears forming in his eyes. They weren’t entirely faked, but they added a nice touch to his performance.

  “I’m sorry, son,” he consoled. “We just have to explore all possibilities.”

  Garrick refused to look the officer in the eye as he spoke, but a tear fell from his eye onto his lap. He felt the officer gently place his hands on Garrick’s shoulder.

  “Hey, buddy. Look at me,” he comforted. Garrick sighed deeply, forcing himself to turn toward the officer. “He’s going to be fine, alright? We’ll find him.”

  “What if you don’t?” Garrick asked.

  “I can assure you, he’s okay. He’s seventeen years old, and he ran away from home. He’s probably just trying to start life as an adult a bit early. You’re bound to hear from him in no time.”

  Garrick didn’t respond. He knew police officers were trained not to give guarantees like that, but he didn’t intend to bring that up. Instead, he just followed the officer to the waiting room, but his mother was nowhere to be seen.

  “That was unprofessional,” he heard her arguing from the other side of the building. “You sent officers to my home to interrogate my son. Never go over my head like that again, do you understand?”

  “Yes, of course,” another voice responded. Garrick didn’t recognize the voice, so he didn’t know if it was the chief or the other detective. “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

  Garrick sat and waited for another twenty minutes. He checked his pockets for his phone, but realized he’d left it at home. When his mom finally stormed into the waiting room, he eagerly jumped up and followed her to the car.

  “I’m sorry about that, Garrick,” she apologized after she’d had a chance to cool down.

  “As I said, Mom,” Garrick replied. “Anything I can do to help.”

  Garrick knew it was risky, but he had to ask his mom about the case. He would have been curious if he didn’t already know what had happened, and he had to get an idea of just how much the police knew.

  “Mom, do they suspect foul play?”

  “No,” she replied, stopping mid-step to look at him. “Should they?”

  “I hope not. Some of the questions they were asking me had me scared. They were asking if Chase had any enemies. It sounds like they think someone hurt him.”

  “No,” she declared adamantly.

  “You’d tell me, right?” Garrick pushed. “You can’t protect me from everything, Mom.”

  “I know, Garrick. They were looking at it as a possibility, but there’s no evidence. Detective Langston wanted to look into every option, because we’re running out of time.”

  “What do you mean?” Garrick asked.

  “Garrick, he’s been gone for over a week now. That’s given him time to get pretty much anywhere. If he doesn’t want us to find him, we probably won’t be able to. We’re running out of time for this to be considered an active case. If they had reason to suspect foul play, the chief would allot more time, so Langston pushed that. That’s what I was talking with them about.”

  “So they’re just going to give up?” Garrick asked. His mom didn’t give him an answer for a while. She just looked around, as if she’d find a better response in the air around her.

  “Yeah,” she said weakly. “Unless you honestly believe that he’s hurt, we have to assume that he just doesn’t want to be found. Do you think he could be hurt, Garrick?”

  He knew his mom. She wasn’t asking directly – she was just asking him if he wanted her to say whatever she had to in order to keep the case open. She had already lied for him, and she would do it again.

  “No,” Garrick sighed. “No one would hurt Chase.”

  “I know. But that means he’s just too far. Unless he chooses to come back, the police are stuck. We just have to hope he’s somewhere where he’s happier than he was here.”

  “I know he is.”

  They continued to the car in silence, but when Garrick sat in the passenger, he noticed the time on the display on the dashboard. Somehow he’d been at the
police station for four hours, and it was already five o’clock.

  “Mom, I don’t assume you brought my phone?” Garrick asked frantically. He was already on thin ice with Hayden; he didn’t want to add missing a date to the list of problems.

  “I did not,” she replied inquisitively.

  “Okay, quick question. Do you think it’s better if I rush to Hayden’s house and apologize or get her flowers and wear something nicer than this?”

  “You had a date?”

  “An hour ago.”

  “The flowers. Definitely the flowers. I’ll drop you off. You change, I’ll get flowers.”

  “She likes lilies.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Everyone likes lilies. Thanks Mom. I’ll just run home from here, because the flower shop is out of the way.”

  “Garrick, I don’t know how much time that will save. Anyway, I don’t know if a mile run is a good idea.”

  “I run every day Mom. A mile won’t break a sweat,” he assured her. “Really, thank you. I love you. I’ll see you at home.”

  Garrick got out of the car before she could protest and started running. As soon as he knew he was out of sight, he broke into a sprint, taking every back street and shortcut he could think of. If the path were straight, it wouldn’t have taken more than two minutes to get home, but he had to navigate through alleys and around buildings. Finally, he approached his street, but he was nearing it from the back, so he’d have to run around the street. Deciding he didn’t have time, Garrick jumped over the eight-foot brick wall that surrounded his neighbor’s back yard, rolling as he landed. A bulldog rushed at him, barking and snarling.

  “Nice dog,” he whispered softly. The dog kept growling, so Garrick growled back. The beast cowered and backed away. “Whatever works,” he muttered. He ran and took a step up the wall, reaching up to grab the top. Garrick planted his feet on the wall and drove one down, launching himself over the wall and landing in his own yard. Reminding himself not to run too fast into the back door, he slowed himself as he approached it and carefully unlocked it.

  By the time he’d changed and applied some extra cologne, his mom was pulling up. Quickly, he grabbed his phone and met her outside, accepting the flowers as she handed them to him.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he waved as he took off jogging toward Hayden’s house.

  “Garrick,” she stopped after a few steps.

  “What?” he asked, hiding his annoyance. He checked his phone to see three missed calls. All he wanted was to get there, explain everything, and grovel for another chance.

  “Take the car.”

  “Right. Thanks Mom,” he responded, catching the keys she tossed to him. He kissed her cheek and got in the car, then sped toward Hayden’s house. When he pulled up, he parked the car out front and walked up to her door.

  Garrick knocked, then hid the flowers behind his back. When she opened the door, Hayden’s expression betrayed a mixture of anger and disappointment, and he never wanted to see her look like that again.

  “Would it help if I told you I was in jail?”

  “No,” she answered. “I don’t think it would.”

  “What if I said I was sorry?”

  “A little.”

  “And if I gave you lilies, because I know they’re your favorite? Or if I told you that you are the most beautiful sight I’ve ever had the honor to see? And your dress brings out the natural light in your eyes? Or that your flawless skin is glowing with perfection”

  “That might help,” she muttered, looking down. “You should do all of those things.”

  “I brought you lilies.” He handed her the flowers.

  “Thank you.”

  “And Hayden,” he started. “You’re the most beautiful sight…”

  “Stop,” she laughed.

  “If I ever stop complimenting you, it will be too soon, because I won’t have described your beauty.” He took her hand and stepped closer, looking her in the eyes, “Would you still like to have a milkshake with me?”

  “I would like that very much. Ice cream is great for when you get stood up.”

  Garrick was about to say something to defend himself, but she put a finger to his lips and leaned close.

  “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

  Chapter 20

  Twelve months ago

  Garrick sat on his bed with Hayden leaning her head on his shoulder – his arm wrapped around her as he listened to her breathing. With the first change over, things felt more bearable. It hadn’t been as agonizing as he’d been preparing himself for. Of course it was painful, but Hayden had held his hand until she didn’t have a hand to hold anymore. After that, Garrick had just tried not to fight the transformation, despite his instinct to try to remain human.

  Hayden looked up at him, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light shining from the ceiling. He smiled back at her. Garrick had no perception of time, so he wasn’t sure how long they’d been lying there, but her face told him she’d fallen asleep on him. She straightened up, rubbing her eyes and stretching.

  As she settled back down, he leaned forward and kissed her. She smiled as he pulled away. This was the first time he’d seen her wake up in a while, because she had decided not to spend a night at his house for the past month. Typically, since Garrick’s mom worked most nights, she would stay with him. Garrick assumed that she had decided against it due to his first change. Given that enough time had passed since then, she had finally decided to spend the night at his house. Garrick had felt a bit like she was avoiding him, but he couldn’t blame her. He himself was afraid of who he’d become over the past month, with his strength growing faster than he could become accustomed to it and his senses in overdrive. He could easily have hurt someone on accident, and he wouldn’t have wanted to be around someone so volatile either.

  She pulled him out of his mind with another kiss, but then she quickly retreated and shook her head. Gently, he turned her face back toward his and gazed into her eyes, leaning in for another kiss.

  “Wait, Garrick,” she stopped him, pushing herself away a bit.

  “What is it?”

  “We can’t do this.” Garrick had no idea where that was coming from.

  “I… Yeah, okay,” he sighed, resigned. There wasn’t much more he could say, so he just pulled his arm back and sat further from her. They hadn’t slept together since well before he’d been scratched, and he didn’t know what the problem was, but it was growing increasingly difficult for him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”

  “No,” she defended. “It isn’t that, really.”

  Garrick bit back any form of response. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t frustrated, and the fact that she’d been ignoring any advance without talking to him about the problem was tiring. Still, he was concerned he’d sound annoyed if he tried to reply.

  “Look, I have to tell you something.”

  Suddenly, fear-filled every aspect of his mind. What could she possibly have been hiding? Nothing had happened with Cailean, he had to believe that. Regardless of how much he thought he trusted her, he could still feel himself begin to panic as his heart rate soared.

  “Calm down,” she consoled softly. The only possible explanation he could think of was that she was about to break up with him.

  “Have you ever heard the expression ‘wolves mate for life’?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he responded cautiously, still unsure of where the conversation was going.

  “Well, it’s true for us. I can’t explain it, but when a werewolf sleeps with someone, they literally give that person their love. You can only love one person in your life, and you choose who it is.”

  “What?” he wondered aloud. The strange part was that what she was saying made sense to him. A piece of him felt that it was the truth.

  “I just want you to think about it before you make a decision like that.”

  He was dumbstruck, but he continued to stare at her.

>   “Hayden,” he laughed, finally finding his ability to speak. “I love you.”

  “But if we do this, you’ll never be able to love anyone else.”

  Garrick smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and gazing into her eyes.

  “I never could.” Hayden searched Garrick’s eyes, looking for any sign of doubt in his statement. He knew she wouldn’t find any. When she was satisfied, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer.

  Present

  17 Days Until the Full Moon

  Standing in his front yard, Garrick tossed a ball to Tyler. Having not heard from the police for the past few days, he’d decided he could spend the afternoon catching up with his best friend rather than working with Cailean to hone his lying skills.

  “Remember that time we tried to go ice skating?” Tyler asked randomly, returning the ball to Garrick. “We assumed we’d just figure it out naturally, so we stood on the ice in rented skates and failed to balance.”

  “That’s not how I remember it,” Garrick laughed as they continued to toss the ball back and forth. “You picked it up like it was second nature, skating off and flirting with all of the girls. When you saw me sliding around like a toddler, you left and held my hand until you led me to more secure ground.” It had only been a few years ago, but that night seemed like a past life to Garrick. Nostalgic, he thought of all the nights he’d spent with his friend killing time without a care in the world. After the scratch, though, everything seemed to spiral away.

  Recently, any time they spent together seemed to be geared toward lycanthropy. Whether they were researching a cure or learning about werewolves with the rest of the pack, their conversations rarely deviated from the topic. Even if it was an embarrassing memory, Garrick was overjoyed to be able to reminisce with his friend again.

  It made sense, that they spent so much time talking about werewolves. Usually they talked about Garrick’s dreams to leave town and do something bigger, but since he’d been scratched it felt like there was a part of him that called that town his home, and his impulses to flee had been quelled. Their conversations had always centered around Garrick – not because Garrick was self-centered, at least he hoped not, but because Tyler didn’t spend much time talking about his personal life. When he was away from home, he wanted to leave it behind. It had taken five years of friendship for Garrick to even find out that the man married to Tyler’s mother was not his birth father, and he still didn’t know what had happened to him. He just never pressed his friend for information like that. If he wanted to share, he would.