by T M Caruana
I was quiet for a while and then sighed.
“Liz was right,” I said sadly, and my memory returned to a place in my mind where I had witnessed murder and death amongst the contestants as well as reliving my parents’ murders.
“Yes, although Sir John and Anne probably will argue otherwise, as I’m acting out of love to rescue you now.”
“Love?”
“Well, not love perhaps…with kindness. You know…humanity.”
“Sure,” I said teasingly. “Although, you are a wolf…wolfity.”
“So, you know about that?” he growled. “You aren’t supposed to know that.”
“Will you kill me because I know?”
“I don’t think you can appreciate how much trouble we are in.”
“So tell me.”
He growled again. He was obviously used to keeping it a secret. It seemed as if it wasn’t a topic that rolled easily out of his mouth.
“You are doing that to me again,” he blamed, irritated.
“What?”
“You are ordering me and when you do I can’t refuse, no matter how hard I try. It is as if…as if…You mentioned in the supermarket that your parents were murdered. When was this?”
A pang of pain hit my chest. I thought of the gruesome event. I had tried to erase it from my memory so many times, yet the images in my head were as clear as if it was yesterday.
He looked at me and his eyes turned sad. “I’m very sorry, but it is important.”
“I can’t see what that has to do with any of this.”
“I know it must be painful to think of, but please, when? Are you sure they are dead? Who told you?”
“No one told me, I saw it,” I said with tears stuck in my throat.
“Saw it! Aw Tasha. That must have been horrific.”
“It was. It was at night. Full moon. I remember. We were all sleeping. I heard noises coming from my parents’ room. No screams, just growls. I walked in and found three large wolves standing over my parents’ bloody bodies. They were lying with their stomachs down; it seemed as if they had been killed in their sleep. There was blood everywhere. Their bodies were scratched, bitten open and ripped apart. I was only eleven.”
“You were eleven?…That would have been about the right time. What happened? How did you survive?”
“I don’t know. It was strange. The wolves started walking towards me, heads low and showing all their fangs with deep growls. Their yellow eyes were locked on me as if I were the devil. It wasn’t about food. It felt more like an act of vengeance. I started screaming. I ran into the living room, trying to reach the patio door that stood wide open, to get out. They jumped on my back before I reached it, knocking me to the ground. I felt a tug at my hair and claws ripping into my back. I screamed for them to go away. And suddenly they just raised their heads, stepped off me and walked away.”
Alfred took a deep breath and let it out slowly as if he had realised something crucial.
“What is it?”
“You, survived.”
“Yes. Although sometimes I wish I hadn’t. The memories haunt me.”
He still looked in agony, although now a slight hope had lit up his eyes. Hope mixed with a look of absolute terror.
“What’s wrong Alfred? Tell me.”
“There you go again,” he said and smiled. “Please phrase yourself a bit differently when you speak to me. No ordering me around, please. If you want to know something just ask me, okay.”
“Okaaaay,” I said confusingly.
I have had my suspicions about your nature and your story makes me believe I was right. If I am right we are in more trouble than I realised. If Sir John has figured it out too…well it terrifies me more than anything.”
“Why? What is it?”
“They will be after you and we aren’t safe.”
“You know. You don’t have to save me or help me with anything. I can take care of myself. I have since I was eleven. Just leave me at the next services and you don’t have to be further implicated. I don’t want you to lose your job and reputation.”
“You don’t understand,” he grunted in agony, but still didn’t give me an explanation.
“Okay, so why don’t you explain it to me. Why are you helping me now?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I’m intelligent.”
“Perhaps later.”
It was getting darker and Alfred was focusing on the road. I clasped my fingers into each other and placed them over my knee. I had so many questions I really wanted the answers to. The biggest feeling that circled in the pit of my stomach was that I didn’t want to lose Alfred. It was strange, everything considered. I really wanted to know why we were both sitting in a car together this night, driving, escaping…fleeing.
“No, tell me now,” I demanded, and believed he would have to answer my call.
“Tasha!” he said in the kind of voice that told me he didn’t like it.
I just crossed my arms and stared at him, not backing down. He pulled his fingers through his hair and grunted. His voice when he finally replied, was stressed and agonised.
“Any relation I have had to the human world is now shattered. A wolf is the only thing I am now. You have probably already heard that I am the alpha of the red wolf pack and…”
“Alpha, holy cow. Like. You are the leader?”
“So, you didn’t know that? Who have you been speaking to?”
“Tony said…”
“Ah, Tooony,” he said slowly, and it was so clear he could have just stated he was jealous. “Yes, so, I need to appear assertive. An alpha constantly has to show his worth or any pack member can challenge me. If all was logical, I wouldn’t really care for the role, but it isn’t. It is a calling that I can’t resist. The power and control is an instinct and obsession that I can’t override. I can’t handle it when anyone domineers me…except for you. You are special. There is something about you that I can’t explain. I’m not sure what you are, but I have my suspicions, as I know you don’t smell like any wolf, coyote, jackal, or dingo, and you don’t smell human either. But I fear to even think of the possibilities if you were…if your parents were the last ones…and you survived. Hidden. Unknown. This leads me to this point, where you are so important to me. I only have you left in this world on a personal level. At the moment you are my everything. But it is not because it’s how it needsto be, it is how I wantit to be. This must all sound so crazy to you.”
I looked at him. Although he was telling me how less of a person he felt, todayhe looked grander to me than I had ever seen him. He practically said he loved me, but without using the word. I knew what he meant. I felt it too.
“So where do we go from here?” I asked.
“Now they will need to clean up this mess and ensure we are silenced. The only way is for us to find out how many know about this project and kill them first.
Oh no, more killing.
There is a man mentioned. Which is the second name I would like you to research for me. He was the author of a report within the files, but wasn’t present on any of the photos.”
“Clever man, probably knew to keep out of the limelight.”
“Yes. Can you search for K. Ascory-Vince. If he was a part of the rebellion, maybe he would be able, and willing, to help us.”
I went silent as I scrolled up and down with my finger on the screen. I typed some more keywords into the search and scrolled some more.
“Anything?”
“There isn’t a man, but there is a woman called Karen Ascory-Vince. Could it be her?”
“Could well be.”
“It says here, it was her maiden name. Her married name is von Wisehouse.”
“Bingo! This is Liz’s mother then. So she was also involved.”
“How come they didn’t kill her as well? It says here, she is a vicar at church in Dover.”
“Not sure. I know I want to find out though.”
21
H
IDE AND SEEK
Having reached the town of Dover, I found a small Bed and Breakfast where we could stay overnight. It was a large stone cottage on the outskirts of town with a small, unpaved road leading up to it. Alfred booked us a double room, without making any inappropriate comments about our sleeping arrangements. I was just dying to have a bath and a proper meal.
We sat on the bed, and devoured a BBQ ciabatta chicken platter. Alfred kept stopping his chewing to listen intensely to every noise.
“You think they have followed us?” I asked and rubbed my arms.
I had goosebumps at the feeling of being watched.
“I don’t know what resources they have available to track us. I have only used cash and my mobile isn’t on a contract.”
“Do you really think it is that bad?”
Alfred looked up from his plate into my worried eyes and to the towel that was wrapped around my head like a turban.
“These people have killed an entire project team. I don’t think they will just let us go free. From what I researched, it appears that they kill by making it seem like an accident or suicide.”
“So, what do we do?”
“There are two things I would like to find out. Is Liz’s parent’s rebel group still active? And how come Liz’s mother was allowed to live? This information might help us figure out who is behind the killings.”
“Perhaps it’s because she is a vicar. Maybe Sir John didn’t want to kill a servant of God?”
“I doubt it. He doesn’t come across as very religious, especially if he has taken lives. Surely, that is one of the biggest sins. Although, I’m not certain it is Sir John.”
“Hopefully, Karen can give us some answers tomorrow.”
<><><>
In the early morning, Alfred and I quickly packed up our belongings into a black backpack that he had fetched from the boot of his car. We drove for twenty minutes before we arrived at St Mary’s Church, the church’s clock on its front façade showed nine in the morning. The church bells struck nine times as we approached the studded wooden entrance door, which was set in the middle of the long stone building. There was a squat tower at one end with a flagpole on top and to the side of the entrance there was a tall rectangular window, which made the church look almost too modern for its twelfth century Saxon construction.
Inside the church Alfred and I walked down the main aisle, following the sound of stifled sobbing, which got louder the further down the aisle we walked. The sound appeared to come from the sacristy. We peered in and found a woman in a dark suit, crying over a pile of crumpled up tissues. She held her forehead up by a shaky hand, supported by her elbow on a round wooden table. Her blonde wavy hair had fallen to hide her face, but her bony body told of a woman approaching her fifties.
Her green eyes looked up at us. Her tears had run far down her cheeks and her eyes had that newly devastated look.
“Excuse me,” she apologised, dried off her face as best she could and stood up. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Alfred took a step forward.
“I’m…”
“Do you think I don’t know who you are?”
Alfred looked at me, not sure what to do next. That she knew we were coming could mean that we were in danger.
“You and your stupid bet is what killed my daughter,” she murmured angrily, and more tears fell down her cheeks.
“Liz is dead?”
“Yes, because of you.”
“No. I didn’t kill her. I did not order anyone to kill her and I certainly didn’t kill her myself. You can blame someone else for her death, or yourself for having started your rebellion in the first place.”
“You are right. Perhaps I am partially to blame, but if you had kept to the rules of the bet this would have never happened. You would have been…” she stopped mid-sentence and pressed a tissue to her nose to dry it.
“The one dead,” Alfred finished angrily, letting her know that he knew very well of their intentions. “And that would have been because of you. You started this.”
“What bet are you talking about?” I asked, and yanked at Alfred’s arm.”
Alfred turned to face me.
“The one in the supermarket I told you about.”
“Yes!” Karen yelled. “The bet that should have ended up with you all dead, a point proven and that would have been the end of it,”
“You are saying you never believed anything would have come out of Liz’s proposal to start the Green Skyway project?” Alfred questioned.
“Wait,” I prompted. “You knew about this? That the plan all along was for us to die and leave no witnesses?”
I don’t know what I had thought.
In a way I wanted to believe that Alfred hadn’t initially known that he was sending me in to die, but that it had been twisted that way at a later stage. That he had started out with good intentions.
“Not now Tasha. Let me explain about that later.”
“You had your chance last night at the bed and breakfast. Why didn’t you explain it then?”
“Because you were exhausted and didn’t need that added to your grief. I will tell you everything when we’re in a safe location,” he explained, and flapped his hands in the air as if he knew that his excuse wasn’t good enough, but that there was nothing he could do about it now.
“How can I be sure that I’m safe with you?” I questioned, and glared at him to indicate that I never wanted to speak to him again.
All he had told me up to now could have been lies. Perhaps he was just waiting for the right opportunity to kill me. He seemed to know about everyone else who had been killed. He had wanted me to enter the supermarket for him, and die for him, in the first place.
I’m not having this.
I stormed out of the sacristy and down the aisle of the church. I could hear Alfred shouting after me.
“Tasha, don’t leave!”
I stopped and turned back to see Alfred and Karen barging out of the sacristy. They paused by the altar, looking at me. Alfred turned to Karen.
“Karen, are there any people who took part in the rebellion who still want to fight for their safety, reveal the project to the general public, or I don’t know…at least seek revenge for the colleagues who were murdered to be silenced?”
“We have kept a low profile on the rebellion for years.”
“But there must have been some movement, right? Otherwise, why did Liz suggest it at the meeting?”
“She begged me to tell her about her father. She came to visit me at Christmas. I got drunk that night, she kept pouring me my favourite red wine and eventually I blurted out parts of the details of the project. Enough for an ambitious woman like her to research the rest. I forbade her to bring up the subject to anyone, but she was always very stubborn. When she suggested it to you in that meeting I don’t think she knew even one per cent of how dangerous it would be or even half the story of why the project was established and then buried.”
“Did you tell Liz about her father still being alive?”
“Patrick died long ago, before Liz was born.”
“Yes, more than nine months before she was born.”
“If he’s still alive Karen, we must gather the rebellion forces and ensure justice is served to the murderers involved in this case.”
“The Green Skyway Project is only a small part of our problems now. Patrick will blame you for Liz’s death. Your kindneeds to hide or we are talking extinction.”
“Kind? Extinction? You mean the Red Wolf pack?”
Karen gasped and glanced over at me to assess my reaction.
“She knows,” Alfred said matter-of-factly. “What does this have to do with the wolves?”
“Okay. Well, let’s say that Patrick Ambroise von Wisehouse is loyal to his word and the treaty, but he isn’t a very forgiving man when it comes to anyone harming his baby girl cub.”
“Patrick Ambroise von Wisehouse…holy shit!” Alfred gasped and took a step backwards to rega
in balance.
“What is it?” I asked.
Who is this man that Alfred seems to know? And he looked utterly terrified at hearing his name.
“PAW Grey.”
“Yes. You have thoroughly upset the grey wolf alpha. I expect a war.”
Alfred pulled his fingers through his black hair. Worry creased his wide and high forehead into three distinct crinkles along its width. The sun had started to rise higher in the sky and a beam was entering through the window to hit his chest. It was as if the angles marked his death.
“At least I have Tasha,” he murmured.
“Me?” I huffed in surprise.
“Yeah, you know, we are…friends.”
“I thought we were,” I snapped and turned my back on him, although I didn’t storm away, “until I found out you deliberately fed me to the wolves.”
Alfred didn’t defend himself against that comment. He couldn’t. I was right. There was nothing he could say that sounded less bad that was still true.
“Karen,” he addressed her instead, “do you know anyone who is left who would fight this cause? Someone killed your daughter and it wasn’t me. We need to figure out who, before more people die. There is a traitor in the grey pack and I can’t believe it is Sir John or Anne. They were loyal friends, unless they did something to upset Paw. Would you have any clue who else it could be?”
“No. Maybe…I don’t know.”
“Karen, how many will have to die due to this project that you started? How many dead people can you carry on your conscience?”
She sighed.
“Every day of my life I have been terrified that this day would come to haut me. I suppose I deserve it. As I have made my bed, I’ll have to lie in it.”
“So you will help us?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I made a promise long ago, which in turn, gave me this sanctuary. As long as I stay in the church and as long as I keep my mouth shut, no harm will come to me.”
“I see. And who offers you this peace? Who is it that you are afraid of?”
