*****
The next few days passed by in a blur. The autopsy showed that Ginny had died from blood loss. When Gwen heard the officers tell her aunt and uncle, her mind flashed back to the bite marks that had covered her body. She was unsurprised to find that the teeth marks on her body were canine, and were suspected to be wolf bites. Geoffrey had told her and Gabe that the wolves in the area were more aggressive than others, and she and Gabe had run into two of them the night Ginny disappeared.
The police investigated for two more days, trying to figure out what Ginny had been into. Her blood work came back negative for any kind of drugs, stumping everyone. One of the officers suggested to the Grady family that she might have been suffering from some form of PTSD as a result of what had happened to her after the first time she went missing. They shifted their focus to trying to find out if she had met up with her mystery contact, but it ended up being a dead end, leaving the officers stumped about where to go next.
Eventually, the police showed up on their doorstep to inform them that the case was going to be closed. Gwen couldn’t believe her ears, and neither could anyone else. The police told them they had no more leads to follow, and there was no way to get more information since the only person who knew anything about Ginny’s situation was Ginny. And she was dead. Without her to question, things were undoubtedly going to go cold, and the police couldn’t justify spending more time on a case that wasn’t going to go anywhere. They officially ruled it an animal attack, and that was that.
The family was gathered in the living room as the officers left, and Gwen could tell that things were going to get bad even before it happened. As soon as the front door was closed, Grant turned to Geoffrey, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. “This is all your fault,” he said. Those were nearly the first words he’d uttered since before finding Ginny’s body days ago, and they were full of so much hatred and rage that Gwen was taken aback by it, her eyes wide as she watched for her uncle’s reaction.
The entire family waited with abated breath, wondering what was going to happen next. The accusation was out in the open and he couldn’t take it back, not that Grant looked like he wished he could. He glared at his own brother, staring him down like an animal, challenging him to defend himself. Seconds passed, and when Geoffrey said nothing in his defense, Grant became infuriated. He hauled Geoffrey to his feet by his shirt, putting them face to face.
Finally, Geoffrey reacted. He put his hands firmly on Grant’s chest and shoved, sending him violently over the back of the couch, sending him toppling to the floor. Before anyone could react, Grant was on his feet and leaping over the couch, tackling Geoffrey like a football player, sending them both crashing down on the coffee table, splintering it into pieces and sending dishes and a vase flying. Sandra and Karen both watched helplessly as they brawled, knowing they were unable to stop either of them.
Grant was on top, raining down blows on Geoffrey’s face. His nose shattered and blood spurted from it, coating his face and neck, and he spluttered for air. His hands snaked up, locking around Grant’s throat like a python, his fury giving him the strength to slowly choke the life from Grant. If Grant noticed, Gwen couldn’t tell. He continued to hit his brother until blood splattered the walls and Geoffrey was left struggling to breathe, his nose broken and clogged with blood.
Gabe jumped into the foray, grabbing two fistfuls of Grant’s shirt and hauling him to his feet. He shoved him towards the far wall without caring where Grant landed or what shape he was in. Immediately, he went to Geoffrey’s side, checking to make sure that their uncle was conscious. Gwen found the courage to move, bending down by Gabe’s side to help Geoffrey into a sitting position. Blood poured down his face in streams, and she was terrified that he might need an ambulance.
He waved away their concerns, unable to speak as he breathed deeply through his mouth. Gwen sat back and watched with wide, terrified eyes, chewing her lip as she wondered what would happen next. As Geoffrey gasped for air on the floor, he turned his eyes on Grant, narrowing them to thin little slits. The hatred between the two of them was palpable, and Gwen wasn’t sure she’d ever sensed such animosity between them. Things had been bad since they had arrived eleven days ago, but she had never expected it might come to this.
I can’t believe it. There is nothing that could ever justify this kind of behavior, especially at a time like this. I don’t even care what it was anymore, I just wanna fix it. They need to support each other to pull through and heal, not push each other even further away than they have been for years now.
While Geoffrey regained his composure on the floor, Grant turned and left, slamming the front door shut behind him. Gwen was surprised the window hadn’t shattered from the force of his rage. Looking around, she noticed all of the broken glass from the dishes and vase that lay scattered in pieces around the floor. Karen sighed, getting to her feet and heading for the kitchen. She came back a minute later with a broom and a dustpan and dutifully began sweeping up the debris left over from the fight.
Sandra fetched the first aid kit from the upstairs bathroom, kneeling on the ground beside Geoffrey to tend to his wounds. He didn’t seem all that bothered by the pain or the blood, instead choosing to focus his attention on the front door as if he expected it to slam back open and for Grant to come storming back inside and finish what they started. When the door remained firmly shut, he finally turned his attention to everyone still in the room, his eyes downcast and full of shame.
Sandra was patching him up, but Gwen noticed that she was refusing to look him in the eyes, despite his best efforts to get her attention. When she was done, she packed up the rest of the first aid kit and took it back upstairs, all without a second glance at her husband as he remained on the living room floor. He stared after Sandra, his eyes longing for her to come back and let him explain, but after a moment, they went dull, and he sighed heavily.
“Uncle Geoffrey? Are you gonna be okay?” Gwen asked, feeling like it was a question that needed to be asked, despite being a stupid one. “Should we call an ambulance?”
He shook his head, wincing and rubbing his neck. “No, Gwen. I’m fine, I promise. This isn’t exactly the first time your father and I have brawled, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. He and I are used to having this kind of effect on one another.”
“You’ve fought like that in the past?” she asked, her eyes going wide.
He grimaced. “Our last fight was actually a lot worse. This was nothing, just two men at the end of their ropes letting off some steam. Don’t worry about it too much.” He struggled to get to his feet, and in the end, Gabe had to help him stand. When he was sure Geoffrey wasn’t going to fall down on them, he let go, taking a step back to give him some room.
“What did you two fight about?”
“The same thing we’re fighting about now,” Geoffrey said, arching an eyebrow. It split open and began to bleed, but Geoffrey didn’t seem to notice. “You don’t need to know what our fight is about, you two. It concerns us and nobody else. Try to respect that.”
“It just seems kind of shitty of both of you to be fighting about something at a time like this,” Gabe said, his voice deep and slow, hesitant to voice his opinion in case it caused Geoffrey any pain.
His shoulders slumped and he looked away from them, refusing to meet Gabe’s eyes again. “I know it is, but some things can never truly be forgiven. And your dad being here is stirring up some really bad memories, from the worst time in my life. Believe it or not, but I’m the one that actually managed to move on with my life. Grant is the one that’s stuck in the past, refusing to let go and try to move forward.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Gabe said, crossing his arms over his chest. “He thinks he’s always in the right. It drives me crazy. Even if you prove him wrong, he’ll still find some way to take the moral high ground, even if he has to completely warp the situation to suit him. I’ll bet he did something like that with your fight, didn’t he?�
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Geoffrey’s silence was enough of an answer for the two of them. Gwen wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a hint of pride in their uncle’s eyes that were so much like their own. Was he proud that his brother’s children saw and understood far more than their parents gave them credit for? Was he even prouder that Gabe was growing into an intelligent young man that had better control of his anger than their father? The thought that Gabe could have grown into a younger version of their father was one that hadn’t every really crossed her mind, and it made Gwen stop and give silent thanks that she had at least one person in her life that would always be honest and support her.
As Geoffrey dusted shattered glass off his back and shoulders, Gabe jerked his head towards the stairs. With one final look at the broken room around them—Geoffrey’s bloody shirt, the front door that still hadn’t opened, and the destroyed furniture–she followed him. He closed the door to Ginny’s room behind her, and he took a seat on the edge of her bed, refusing to even look at Ginny’s empty one.
It was strange, being in that room. Her sadness came and went in patterns. Sometimes she couldn’t bring herself to look at the empty bed, and others she would lie there for hours, unable to bring herself to look away. She noticed that Gabe completely ignored the other half of the room, putting his back to her bed and her posters and her clothes and books. Anything that would remind him of Ginny’s absence was put to his back, and Gwen couldn’t blame him for not wanting to look.
Gwen took off her cardigan and crossed the room to the closet, where Ginny had devoted a space just to her. She slid the closet door closed and turned towards the bed, her foot catching something on the floor. Startled, she began to fall, putting her arms out to catch herself on anything. She caught the dresser by her bed and righted herself, her heart beating just a little faster and her toe burning from the impact of whatever she’d hit. Looking down, she noticed that the floorboard closest to the closet was loose. It didn’t look like natural wear, when the corners sometimes turned up because of loose nails.
That floorboard has been pried out and hastily put back in…
The thought surprised her, because she didn’t know the slightest bit about home maintenance or building, but she’d seen enough teen movies in her time to know what the sight of that floorboard meant. Immediately, she knelt on the floor, ignoring Gabe’s questions. Digging her nails under the loose corner of the floorboard, she pried it up, breaking one of her nails in the process. She winced at the pain, but she couldn’t stop. Finally, the board wiggled free, and she pulled it from its slot, leaving a perfectly rectangle shaped hole.
Gabe’s eyes widened and he slid off her bed, joining her on the floor. The hole was pitch black and she couldn’t see anything, but she didn’t need to. She stuck her hand in and began to search, wondering what Ginny might have kept in such a secret hiding place. At last, her fingertips brushed against something hard, and she felt only a second of hesitation before lifting it from the hole. Coming away with a leather bound journal, she leaned back, bouncing on her heels as she looked it over.
Gabe scooted closer, resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked over it. Their eyes were drawn to the name that was stitched across the black leather cover in brilliant gold lettering: Ginevra. Gwen lightly trailed her fingertips over the bright lettering, feeling the rough texture of the leather cover. Her hands trembled and the book shook in her grasp as she struggled with what to do next. Did they dare open the book and invade Ginny’s privacy? The slight possibility that they might get some kind of closure or even information regarding her disappearance was too huge of a lure to pass up, but the thought of intruding on her most secret inner thoughts left a bad taste in her mouth.
Gabe pulled away a bit, sitting back and leaning against the side of the bed. “What do we do with it? She hid it because she didn’t want anyone to find it, but we’re not just anyone, right?”
“That doesn’t mean we have the right to invade her personal possessions,” Gwen said, forcing the words out through clenched teeth. She was dying to open the journal and see what Ginny’s thoughts had been about, but the guilt she would feel might be too much for her to handle. What would Ginny say if she were there to see them practically salivating over her diary? Gwen felt her cheeks begin to burn with shame, and she nearly set the book back in the dark hole.
But her grip on the book tightened and her arms felt like they were locked into place, refusing to obey. Even if it was an invasion of privacy, Gwen couldn’t bring herself to pass up the chance to learn everything she could about her cousin. She would never get the chance to ask her any of the questions she still had, but she might have a chance to get some of the answers to them. She sighed, knowing what had to be done, and knowing that it was wrong deep down in her heart.
“We have to read it,” she said, surprising Gabe.
“You just said—”
“I know what I said,” she snapped. When Gabe’s eyes widened in surprise, she immediately regretted her harsh tone. “I’m sorry, Gabe. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re both a little tense right now, especially after what just happened downstairs. And now this? Finding her journal is a big deal, Gwen. It’s okay to be hesitant and unsure if reading it is the right thing to do, but for what it’s worth, I think Ginny wouldn’t mind us poking our noses in it. Not now, not if she knew the pain we were going through. She’d understand.”
He’s right, she told herself. She’d want us to know.
“So where do we start?”
Gabe shifted nervously. “Well, I don’t really wanna know her thoughts on things like school and friends, so I say we skip right past the first entries. We should start near the back, when things probably started going wrong. Her last few entries will probably be more telling than the rest of them put together. If we need to go back further, we can, but I’d say the week before she went missing would be a good place to start. Maybe two weeks.”
Gwen had similar feelings about reading her more personal stuff that didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance, and skipped a good chunk of the journal. When she found a good spot and flipped open to a page, she found the date written at the top to be a few days before Ginny went missing for the first time. Taking a deep breath, she handed the book over to Gabe, huddling closer together as he began to read aloud, his voice soft so it wouldn’t carry downstairs.
“Something strange has been happening. A stranger approached me one day after school. I think he was waiting for me for awhile, all sweaty from the heat and breathing harsh. I asked who he was, and he introduced himself as a very old friend of my dad and uncle, but refused to give me his name. He was very charming as he asked me to meet him someplace so we could talk without being interrupted. I told him I didn’t go anywhere with strangers, and he laughed. He said Geoffrey taught me well, but that I had nothing to fear from him.”
Gabe paused, his eyes locking on Gwen’s. “I think we just found out who abducted Ginny. Hopefully she gives us a name we can give to the police.” His mouth was set in a grim, firm line, and when he began reading again from where he left off, his voice had taken on a harsher edge to it. Gwen noticed that his hands had tightened their grip on her journal, but she took her attention away from Gabe, forcing herself to focus on the story he was telling.
“He convinced me to meet him for coffee. Over a mug of green tea, I listened to him talk. He jumped right into things, asking me if I was content with my life and if I ever dreamed of anything more exciting. As I was starting to get weirded out, he offered me a chance at having a life of freedom, free from the restrictions of normal people, as he said. This wild life he offered me was intriguing, and when I asked what it was, he coyly told me I had to agree to sneak out and meet him somewhere before he would tell me. No doubt he could see the stars in my eyes at the thought of something exciting happening in my boring life here in Brighton, and he knew I would agree.
“That night, I snuc
k out my bedroom window and met him on the road half a mile from the house. He took me through the woods, showing me the beauty of the night like I had never seen it before. Something stirred inside of me, a feeling of wildness that I had never felt before. It was a buzz, like the natural high of a long run. He told me that every night could be like this if I wanted, and I accepted without hesitation. He brought me home, and I climbed back into bed with the promise that I would see him the following night as well.
“I snuck out two more times to see him that week, each time falling more in love with the thrilling feeling of our time together. He was an enigma to me—spirited and intimidating at the same time. However, I began to get the feeling that he was keeping something from me, that as much as I loved the chance to be free, the other shoe would be dropping at any moment. When I snuck out to meet him again, he offered me the chance to permanently change my life, to become greater than I ever could on my own, and all I had to do was one little thing for him.
“Immediately I sensed that I wouldn’t like what he had to say next. I had a feeling in my gut that this was the other shoe dropping. I had been waiting for it, fearing that things were too good to be true. To think he was crazy enough to believe werewolves actually existed…
“When he finally told me the “secret” to his thrilling life, I felt like I had been played for a fool. I was ashamed to admit that I had been tricked into wasting time with this man, and I angrily demanded that he leave me alone. When I told him I never wanted to see him again, he became so hostile and enraged. He grabbed my wrist as I walked away, yanking me back to him and nearly breaking it. Later, I saw a bruise that was so dark I considered going to the hospital. But what would I say? A deranged man who thought he was an actual werewolf grabbed me?
“They’d suspect my family for sure, and I couldn’t let that happen. Just like I couldn’t let them know about this man and how gullible and foolish I had been. They’d raised me to be smarter than that, and it would have been a slap to their faces. So I went home and kept our trysts a secret, hiding the bruise so nobody would be suspicious. But, over the next few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about the things he’d said and the things he’d made me feel. It was insane, but a part of me wanted to believe his insanity, and I began to wonder if it was truly possible.
“After that night, my life began its downward spiral into hell. He was so enraged—so full of hatred for me—that the intensity of it took my breath away. He began following me around town, appearing after my practices and while hanging out with friends, always hiding in plain sight, as if he was a natural part of the community. Nobody seemed to notice him. It was like he was nothing more than a ghost, or possibly even a figment of my imagination. I began to think I might be going crazy, that I had somehow imagined him and his promises. Eventually, I started researching types of psychosis and if I could be suffering without knowing it.”
“She thought she was imagining him?” Gwen asked softly, her voice shaky and her eyes watery. “She felt alone and scared and she didn’t come to me.” The revelation that her cousin had been fighting such a dark inner battle and hadn’t thought to ask for her help left Gwen wondering if they had ever been as close as she thought. Maybe Ginny really didn’t see her as a sister. If she had, wouldn’t she have confided something to her? Gwen had proven over the years that she could keep a secret. It wasn’t like she had ever betrayed Ginny’s trust before.
“Don’t dwell on it,” Gabe said. “She was in a pretty bad place and she didn’t how to deal with it. It was nothing personal, Gwen.” He cleared his throat and began to read from the diary again, his voice taking on a more intense and urgent tone as the story progressed. “I began to feel like I was being watched at all times, like there were always eyes on me no matter where I went. Even at school on my lunch breaks, I couldn’t escape the overwhelming feeling of being followed. People at school began to notice my odd behavior, but they kept it to themselves, chalking it up to pressure for the upcoming end of year exams.
“But the worst of it was the wolves.” Gabe stopped again, and their eyes met briefly. “They were keeping me awake at night, always howling near the edge of the woods. Dad chased them away several times, but they always came back, and they were always focused on my window. It got to the point where I could tell they were out there even before they started their nightly song. I laid awake in bed for hours every night, tossing and turning as I struggled to tune them out, but it was no use. Even in my sleep, I was haunted by their voices. My parents became tense and quick to anger, and I sensed that they knew something terrible was going on but knew they were helpless to help me.
“More than that…I was helpless to help myself. I felt like I was going even crazier as I began to believe his insane ramblings. Werewolves couldn’t possibly exist, yet I was being watched by wolves and being stalked by a man that claimed to be their alpha. It didn’t take long for me to finally admit out loud that I fully believed in what he had told me. After finally admitting it, I began to feel better. I no longer felt like I was a lunatic, but I started to see my situation as more and more helpless. How did I fight a man like that?
“I wondered how much longer I would be able to fight before giving in to his demands. I wondered what he could possibly want with me, and my mind raced with all of the possibilities—all of them as horrible as the next. Two or three times I thought about telling my dad what was going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. His threats against my family were very real, and I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to unleash his fury against them for my mistakes. So I kept my mouth shut and waited for whatever was destined to happen next.
“Finally, I could take it no more, and I snuck out to meet with him. He was amused by my bravery, but told me it wouldn’t save me in the end. I was more terrified than I’d ever been in my life, but I stood firm, refusing to bow to any of his demands. Surprisingly, he didn’t get angry like I had expected him to after weeks of being stalked. Instead, he insisted he had a secret to tell me, one that would make me rethink everything I’d ever been told. I blurted, ‘More than knowing about werewolves’? He laughed, and my stomach began to hurt.
“He was right. What he told me that night was the kind of world shattering secret that not only destroyed lives, but shattered families. When I heard it, I felt like I had been punched in the gut, like I wanted to puke. But I forced myself to remain calm in case he picked up on any subtle sign of weakness, and I asked him why he’d told me such a devastating secret. Finally, I knew what he wanted, and in the end, it was even more horrible than I had ever imagined. Of all the scenarios I had played out in my mind, none of them had come close.”
“I wonder what the secret was,” Gabe said, tearing his eyes away from the journal in his hands. “Obviously it was something she wasn’t expecting and it completely took her by surprise. It had to be bad to affect her like that.” Gabe turned to the next page and frowned, flipping a few pages ahead. “There’s not much left. Only one more entry.”
“Read it!” Gwen hissed, biting on her already raw lip. She had to hear what happened next. They were so close to figuring out what might have happened to Ginny, even if none of it made any sense.
Gabe cleared his throat. “I’m at a loss. I haven’t slept or eaten in two days, not since he told me what he wanted from me. What he wants me to do is so horrible, and I know I could never do it. I couldn’t hurt her like that, especially now that I know the truth. I could never let anyone intentionally harm her…no matter the cost to myself. No, Gwen will stay safe…at least for now…”
Revelations (Brighton Wolves #1) Page 25
