“Umm… I need to get… You see, I can’t seem to open the deep freeze. It’s frozen shut… or something.”
“What?” Diesel moved the quilt and stood up, seeming taller than Aiden remembered him being. “That’s stupid. I think you’re a weak little girl.” He grabbed a lit lantern and walked to the kitchen. Aiden went to follow, but Scarlet grabbed his arm.
“What the hell are you doing? Just shoot him.”
He shook his head and pulled his arm away. He followed Diesel through the kitchen and to the dark stairwell that led to basement.
Cold and quiet surrounded him as he descended into darkness. Soon he heard Scarlet’s boots thump on the wood stairs as she followed, shining her flashlight. As they reached the basement floor, Aiden retrieved the gun from his waistband.
He took a dart and placed it in the chamber and walked toward Diesel, who had almost made it to the freezer. He didn’t pump the gun. A bluff would have to work. There was the possibility that Diesel would take the gun away from him. After their couple of altercations, he knew Diesel was stronger even without the extra strength of a werewolf. So he decided not to have a prepumped gun so he would at least have a chance to run without getting shot himself.
Holding the gun with both hands, his entire body quivered. Even though he wished he wasn’t in the situation he had put himself in, he couldn’t back down now. It was a good plan, and it was the only way for all of them to make it through the night.
“I don’t know what your problem is. It opened right up for me,” Diesel said as he turned around, holding the lantern out in front of him. His expression changed to amusement as he eyed the dart gun Aiden pointed at him. “What’s this?”
Scarlet came up behind Aiden and stood beside him.
“Scarlet?” Diesel asked. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Diesel.”
“What are you guys planning on doing with that? You going to shoot me, Aiden? You agreed to this, Scarlet?”
She said, “We can’t take the chance that you’re going to turn into a monster, like your granny, and kill us.”
Aiden felt a flush of anticipation as he realized what Scarlet must have thought. But he couldn’t start explaining the plan to her at that moment.
Diesel’s smirk slowly vanished, replaced by a deep frown and a tight jaw as he stared at Scarlet. However, his eyes revealed sadness before he lowered his chin and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” Scarlet whispered. “If you’re in there, Diesel, please understand why I have to do this. Don’t worry; he can shoot the darts real fast. I really, really hate this. If you would have just stayed asleep, you would have never known about any of this.”
“Known what? That you were going to murder me in my sleep?” Diesel smoothed his hair back with his free hand. “It doesn’t matter. You guys are right.” He set the lantern down on top of the freezer and put his hands up in surrender. “Shoot me, Aiden.”
Aiden felt the weight of the gun, which he held in front of him, as he glanced at Scarlet and then back to Diesel. Confusion over what was happening flooded his mind.
“Go on, Aiden,” Scarlet said.
“Get it over with.” Diesel squeezed his eyes together.
“Don’t be a coward. You have to do this.” Scarlet nudged him.
Crap, crap, crap. “I wasn’t… I don’t really want to shoot you. I only want you to get in that cage.”
“What?” Scarlet yelled. “No, Aiden. We don’t know if that’ll even hold him. How long has that been there, anyway?”
“That’s right. Listen to her, Aiden,” Diesel said without taking his eyes off of Scarlet. “I’m a wild beast, remember.” Diesel made a step forward, and Aiden backed up.
“I don’t want to shoot you. You might not even change into a werewolf. I’m not going to shoot you!”
“It’s okay.” Diesel made another step forward. “It’s what you gotta do. And when you’re done, maybe you should run a stake through my heart, too. You know, just in case. We don’t want to take any chances with Scarlet’s life. Isn’t that right, Scarlet?” He took another step closer. “End it for me now. I won’t fight you.”
Aiden couldn’t breathe, and his hands had become sweaty around the gun. “All I want is for you to get in the cage. I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s for. For Granny. So she wouldn’t hurt anyone, or something. Please, get inside.” He waved the gun at the open door of the cage.
In one quick movement, Diesel stormed toward them.
“Shoot him! Shoot him!” Scarlet cried.
Diesel didn’t go for Aiden and the gun, instead he grabbed Scarlet.
Scarlet cried out as Diesel dragged her into the cage with him. Diesel fought Scarlet’s fist and kicks, ultimately knocking her to the ground. He used that opportunity to shut the door and lock it.
Aiden stood, staring with his mouth open, panting, wondering what had happened.
Scarlet jumped up and ran to the cage door, rattling it vigorously. “Open the door, Aiden! Open the door! Let me out of here!” She tried pulling the lock open.
Aiden felt the tears of fear and frustration run down his face. “I can’t. I don’t have a key.” He lowered his shaky arms. No longer able to stand the feel of the gun, he watched as it dropped to the floor.
“Where’s the key?” Scarlet shook the cage. “Diesel, tell him where the key is!”
“Well, well.” Diesel sighed dramatically. “You can’t leave your girlfriend in here with a monster… now can you? I guess you’re going to have to shoot me after all, cousin.”
Chapter 16
She Might Still Be Saved
The prehistoric-looking padlock hung from a rusty chain that wrapped loosely around the cage door. It gave just enough for Scarlet to shake it loudly. As Scarlet banged on the bars, demanding Aiden shoot, Diesel had sudden doubts about his decision to lock Scarlet in the cage with him. All the rage he had felt a few seconds earlier had defrosted into drips of weariness. When he had grabbed her, he had been angry at her deceit and had thought, Fine, you want me dead, I’ll give Aiden no choice. Now, everything had begun to sink in. “Listen to me, Aiden,” he said calmly, consciously trying to take back the attitude he had used to shake Aiden up. “I really need you to shoot me.”
“Shoot him,” Scarlet pleaded. “Come on, Aiden. You don’t have a choice.”
“I’m sorry,” Aiden said, looking from Scarlet to Diesel. “I can’t. I can find the key.”
It was freezing cold in the basement, yet sweat dripped down Aiden’s face. Diesel almost felt sorry for him. Although he didn’t remember much about his cousin from when they were kids, he did remember how easy it had been to manipulate him. It was obvious to him now what Scarlet had done. Joke was on her, though, because Aiden was such a wuss.
“Hand me the gun!” Scarlet demanded.
“Just hold on. Hold on. I remember something. I’ll get you out. I promise.” Aiden ran the length of the basement and up the stairs. They heard the door slam shut at the top.
“No! Aiden, you stupid ass. Wait!” Scarlet pulled and banged on the bars. Even though it was clearly out of her reach, she dropped down on her knees and tried to retrieve the gun Aiden had left on the floor. After a few attempts, she stood back up and screamed, “Aiden! Get your ass back down here, you stupid ass! Shit! Come back! You can’t leave me in here with him. Oh, crap. Oh, shit. Aiden!” She shook the bars but never looked behind her. Never looked at him… she just kept yelling.
The steel cage had been built into the concrete wall. It had been part of the basement for as long as Diesel could remember. As a child he had never been allowed in the basement by himself—the rule never bothered him because of the pungent smell of the herbs… and it was creepy. He did remember asking his mom about the cage. She had told him it came with the house.
At the moment, he wondered if that had been a lie and if what Aiden had said was true. Had the cage been built to keep his grandmother in when she t
urned into a werewolf? Surely he would have noticed if his mom had kept his granny in a cage. As he thought about it, there were memories of her not coming down for dinner. “She’s not feeling well,” his mom would say. Not that unusual. There were memories of him knocking on her door and there being no answer and it being locked from the inside. “She needs some time alone,” his mom would explain. However, he had never heard strange sounds coming from the basement, and he had never seen his granny as much as walk down the basement stairs.
He wished his mom had told him everything before. Before she died and left one little note that didn’t really explain anything. It didn’t have a date, so no telling when it had been written.
How could she have kept something so huge from him, something so important? Even though he recognized the reason his relationship with his mom had changed over the past year had a lot to do with Scarlet, he really couldn’t blame Scarlet. He had made the choice: the choice to mock his mother’s beliefs and call them silly superstitions. Perhaps his mom had known it would happen one day, that he would eventually turn his back on her. If she had told him about Granny, he wasn’t all that sure he would have kept the secret from Scarlet. And if the secret had gotten out, even if people didn’t believe it and had only used the information to ridicule the strange Andrews family, it would have been mortifying.
The family secret: Granny was a werewolf. An image of his granny as the werewolf flashed inside his mind, and he felt the fear run up his shoulders. Granny hadn’t recognized him and unquestionably would have killed them all.
Diesel stared at Scarlet, who had given up on screaming and now whimpered to herself. The long hair she always kept bouncy and perfect was a mess of tangles and unruly curls. She still hadn’t looked at him. She was scared of him and most likely hated him.
He wished he had noticed that she had been scared earlier instead of worrying that she was attracted to Aiden. He knew she had been upset by the situation, but it hadn’t occurred to him that she was scared of him. All he had noticed was her getting all friendly under the blankets with Aiden and whispering behind his back, which they had been doing but for a completely different reason. Even so, he didn’t know how he had become so distracted from the danger. Himself. The thought of waking to find he had mutilated her made his heart sink to the floor.
He had locked Scarlet in the cage with him for the wrong reasons, but he had thought it was the right thing to do… if Aiden wouldn’t have been such a coward. Now, if Aiden didn’t find the key, he might have killed her with that one act, just like he’d killed everyone else he loved.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Scarlet turned around, her hands over her chest and tears streaming down her face. “For what?” she spat. “Sorry you came back here? Sorry your grandmother turned into a big, scary monster and bit you? Sorry you have such a freaking crazy family… or sorry for what you’re going to do?”
“I wouldn’t hurt you. Not on purpose. You should have come to me.”
She wiped hastily at her tears, her face solemn and her eyes suddenly fixed on him. “I couldn’t take the chance. I have to look out for myself. I’ve always had to look out for myself. No one else is going to.”
He really loved her. Scarlet had been the first girl he had ever introduced to his family, the only girl who had ever really got him. Even though they had an unusual relationship, he thought they had a real connection. Now he wondered if it had been one-sided. Had she ever loved him? Because if she felt half the way he felt about her, she would have come to him. He felt a surge of anger reemerge in a flash of heat on his chest and face. Why had she turned her back on him? They could have talked it out. If she had told him how scared she felt, he would have come downstairs willingly and locked himself inside the cage. “I thought we looked out for one another.”
“Don’t you dare try and make me feel guilty. That’s not fair. What did you expect me to do? I’m scared out of my freakin’ mind. I had to do what I had to do. You are not you anymore. You’re turning into…” She turned completely away from him, wrapping her arms around herself. He could hear her crying.
“I’m still me, right now. I don’t feel any different. Look at me, Scarlet. It’s me.” He pounded his chest. “I haven’t changed. I might not change! I don’t know—how could you not talk to me. How could you just want to kill me?”
She whirled around and screamed, “You did this! Why did you have to come back here? We were finally going to be rid of this place.” She inhaled and squeezed her eyes together. “You did this. We could have been halfway across the world, sipping margaritas. But no! We’re locked in this cage, it’s freezing, and it’s dark. I just know you’re going to turn into a freaking werewolf—a monster with sharp teeth and fur and not know who I am…” She broke down and sobbed into her hands.
Diesel took a step closer to Scarlet and reached out to her. But he snatched his hand back; he didn’t want to see her recoil in fear. He slowly backed away until he was stopped by the concrete wall. He put his fists close to his chest, trying to control the tremble and the fear, then closed his eyes. Did he feel anything? Did he feel different? Tense, remorseful, and scared… nothing any clearer than that. He tried to remember his granny’s moods. Did she change at certain times? No, she was the same all the time. He couldn’t remember ever thinking how strange she was acting. He wondered if the Silverweed had cured all of her symptoms.
“Even if the bite infected me,” he finally concluded, “maybe the muffins will keep me from changing. I’ve been eating them, a lot of them. Maybe I won’t change. I might not change at all… even if it’s in my blood. Why else would my mom be so adamant about the Silverweed? That’s what she wrote in the letter. That’s what it’s for.”
Slowly, Scarlet turned around. “And maybe just because it worked for Granny doesn’t mean it will work for you.”
“It might,” he whispered. “I don’t feel any different. I feel the same way I did yesterday and the day before.”
“What? What about in there awhile ago. You were so… aggressive and possessive and almost violent. That’s not you.”
He tried to think about what she meant. His mind was a little foggy as to what had happened right before his nap. “I’m sorry. I must have drunk too much wine. I know that’s not an excuse… but I can usually hold my alcohol. I don’t know. I guess because of the stress I’ve been feeling a little paranoid… a little alone and perhaps even jealous.” He looked to the floor and put his hand on the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked at her and whispered, “I love you, Scarlet.”
Scarlet stared at Diesel. Her eyes, which had been harsh, seemed a little softer.
Diesel said, “I don’t want to take the chance that anything will happen to you. If you want… I’ll shoot myself. I’ll use four darts in my leg or something to make sure it works. Just don’t hate me.”
Scarlet heaved heavily in and out as she dropped to the floor on her knees. She shivered and held herself as she rocked back and forth. “What am I doing?” she whispered as she squeezed her eyes together and shook her head. “What is wrong with me?” She sat all the way down on the concrete and crossed her legs. “Everything is so wrong and so weird.”
He wanted to try and make her feel better, but there was an awkwardness between them that he feared they would never recover from. How could so much change so fast?
Scarlet said, “I swear, you were acting different. I didn’t think you were you anymore. Wow, that’s sounds so stupid now. I was scared of you, but I never hated you.”
He sat down and rested his elbows on his bent knees, allowing his forehead to drop heavily to his hands. At least she didn’t hate him.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “You’re right. I should have talked to you. And maybe you’re right about the Silverweed. I did give you a lot.”
Diesel hated to think it, and hated to say it even more—especially now that she had come around a little bit—however,
it had to be said. “What if you’re right?”
He heard her rustling, standing up, and wondered if she would start banging on the bars again. Instead, when he looked up, he saw she had taken a couple of steps toward him.
“Aiden will find the key.” She nodded. “He’ll be back any minute. He can let me out, and we’ll leave you in here. To see. To see if you turn.”
“Hmph. I can’t believe that little jerk-off was right. He had the right idea all along. I guess he’s not so bad.”
Scarlet shivered and began to pace. “But even if you don’t change tonight, we won’t know if the Silverweed kept you from turning or if you weren’t infected at all.”
“Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t eat anymore, and I can stay in here for a few days.” It was better than getting shot with the darts, but it was so cold, he thought that he might freeze to death before they found out the truth. They could bring him a cot and blankets. Camp out. It wouldn’t be that horrible. There was a good possibility that the electricity would be on by the next day. They could bring down a heater.
She nodded. “Okay. That’s good. And Diesel…” She looked tired, and her eyes were swollen. “I’m sorry. About everything that has happened. About what I did.”
Doubts about her sincerity tried to push their way into his mind. He had seen it before. Scarlet was an insanely good liar. He had to keep the bad thoughts out because at that moment he really needed her to be genuine. “It’s okay,” he told her. It’s okay, he told himself. She’s not pretending. She wouldn’t shoot me as soon as she gets out of here.
Chapter 17
He Cut Open The Stomach
When Aiden ran up the stairs to the kitchen, the complete darkness slowed him down for a second. However, as soon as he spotted the living room light dancing halfway into the kitchen, he sped up again, only stopping long enough to grab a lit candle from the fireplace mantle.
Silverweed: a supernatural fairy tale Page 10
