by Jill Nolan
"Then maybe I got the time wrong, but I saw him kill them all. Cody, please. You have to believe."
"Okay, just tell me what happened."
He’s covering for him, isn't he? Of course he's not going to pick me over his brother. Still, maybe if he hears exactly what he did, he'll decide to help me. It's my only chance really.
Cody brings me to the couch, and I tell him everything, emotionlessly…until I get to Allison. The crack of her neck and the slump of her body play over and over as background music when I get to that part of the story. And when I start seeing his hands wrench her head to the side, her stiff, immobile body when I came to, I can do nothing to hold back the tears that turn into a complete breakdown. I bring my legs up and bury my head between my knees. My hands cover my head, trying to block out the bad thoughts. Cody puts his arms around me, and I lean in to him, still desperate for someone to comfort me.
I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling multiple tears fall to the couch, but then my memories play on the big screen behind my eyelids. I quickly open them, staring at the deer skin rug, memorizing the patterns on it. The volume of my crying and hiccupping block out the sounds, though some of the screaming still permeates my mind. Nothing stops the phantom smell of death.
It takes what feels like a long time for me to calm down again. I finish the story, ending with what Mason told me right before he backhanded me and knocked me out.
You will remember nothing of tonight.
“That doesn’t make sense. He isn’t able to erase memories. And he wouldn’t have lost control like that. If he really wanted to kill Nic, he would have done it with his bare hands, as a human. I know him. He’s capable of a lot, but not this.”
“Killing is all he’s capable of. I need to go home. You know I won't tell anyone what I happened, if that's what your worried about.”
Cody puts his head in his hands. "I think there’s something else going on. I know this is a fucked up situation, but he is trying to keep you safe, and he’s just about the only one who can. He’s never cared about anyone as much as he cares about you. I think it scares the hell out of him that he could lose you—"
"He’s already lost me. My family deserves to know I’m alive. Please, Cody, help me get out of here."
I hold my breath as he appears to consider my plea. “I’m sorry, Keegan. I can’t. Not yet.” I recoil away from him, somehow shocked that he really isn’t going to help me. “It’s a big, scary world out there, full of all kinds of monsters and nightmares. Something bad is out there, and it’s targeting you.”
“No, I know what happened. You need to get me away from that monster you call a brother. How can you not—I can’t even believe that you would just leave me here, with him!” I realize I’m breathing hard, my heart pounding to the beat of my anger.
“Those were my friends too, alright?” he shouts back at me. “Look, I’m going to visit your house tonight. If Mason did this, his scent will be all over the scene, and I’ll know it was him. Otherwise, I’ll be able to follow the scent of whoever did do this.”
“What do you mean you're going to follow the scent?”
"You remember the story I told you about how Mason found my family?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" I demand, my frustration bleeding through my words.
"I left out the most important part of that story. It was a werewolf that found Mason, a werewolf that Mason followed, a werewolf that took him in and treated him like a son. Mason followed him, because he was a wolf and yet a monster, like him. My grandfather was cursed, and unbeknownst to him, the curse was genetic. He passed it to my dad, and my dad passed it to me."
"You're saying you're a werewolf?"
“Yes. I am able to shift when I want, except on the full moon, when I have no choice but to shift. I can get to your property, shift, and then find the scent of whoever did this and follow it. I tried to go last night, but the police were all over the place, combing through the woods."
I narrow my eyes at him skeptically. I don't know if I believe him or if I trust him.
“I can tell you don't really believe me, and that's fine. I can prove it to you later, if you want. For now, I'm going to figure out who did this, okay?"
Maybe it should be easier to believe that Cody is a werewolf, considering I know Mason to be a vampire, but I’m still having trouble comprehending the possibility. Seems like a convenient way to "prove" Mason didn't do what I saw him do.
I decide I don't care if he's lying or not.
“Fine. Go play follow the scent. I don’t really care what you do or don’t smell. I was there. I know what happened, and you're leaving me here, with the murderer of our friends.”
“You think I’d cover for him? I’ve helped him cover up more than a few bodies, but I’m not sure I’d help him with something like this.”
“Sure, whatever you say.”
He turns his head to the door. "MASON!" he shouts.
“What are you doing?” I ask, frantic, worried.
“I’m going to tell Mason what you told me.”
“What? No! He can’t know that I know what happened.”
“I don’t think you do know what happened. He didn’t do this, I promise. And tonight, I’ll know who did.”
“Tonight, you’ll find out that your brother is a psychopath, and you’ll probably come back here to find me dead.”
“What? He’s not going to kill you.”
“Maybe he'll just kill you then."
Mason walks in then. I debate running back to my room, but I don’t want to miss what they say. I want to see Mason’s defense and if Cody believes him. Maybe Cody will realize I’m right and take me away from here. Or maybe he already knows that Mason did it, and this is all for show, to fuck with my head, make me believe the lie they’re trying to shove down my throat.
I fidget, nervous with how this will go as Mason slides into the chair facing us. I keep my eyes anywhere but on Mason. I look at the chair he’s sitting in, the coffee table in between us, the end table next to the chair. They all look like handmade wood furniture. Mason must have built them. I wonder how much of this cabin he built himself.
"She thinks you killed them, because she saw you kill them," Cody says, right to the point. Mason's gaze slides to me, but I look down at my hands, not wanting to look in his eyes. Cody relays the rest of what I told him.
At the end of it Mason says, “Keegan, I swear to you, that didn’t happen; that wasn’t me.”
I shake my head to indicate my disbelief but continue staring at the rug. That's his denial? That's all he has? It didn't happen. It wasn't me. What, is this a fucking Shaggy song? How fucking stupid does he think I am?
As I silently fume, Mason continues, “I’ve heard of vampires with the ability to compel humans to forget, but I told you before, I don’t have that power. And if you were compelled to forget, you would not remember. No one is just immune to it. It can be fought, but it's a skill, and it takes practice.”
“Go over what you saw when you got there,” Cody says to Mason.
“The first thing that hit me was the smell; there was the smell of rotting flesh everywhere, but it wasn’t coming from the bodies; they’d barely started decaying." I wince at his description. "Keegan, are you sure you want to hear this?"
I glare it him, but say nothing. No, I don't want to hear this, but I feel like I have to.
"The bodies had a lot of teeth and claw marks, large claw marks. Most of them were practically ripped apart." I shudder at the gruesome picture he’s painting and try to keep the images from taking over in my head.
“Were they missing anything? Like organs?" Cody asks. I try not to gag at the thought of animals eating their corpses.
“I'm not sure.”
“That smell of death shouldn't have been there yet, but I have smelled it before around her cabin at least once; I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
"Does it always smell like that?"
"No
, not always."
“Keegan," Cody says gently. "Have you smelled something like rot or death anywhere other than your cabin?”
Who cares about the smell? Why are focusing on that? I continue staring at the floor, determined to not be a part of whatever it is they're doing.
Inadvertently, the night I was kidnapped comes to mind. When I was tied up, I did smell death in the air. I don’t want to tell them though; it was unrelated, and this line of questioning is ridiculous.
“You have, haven't you?”
I shrug.
"Tell me."
“When I was tied to a tree after I was kidnapped – the first time,” I say pointedly, “I smelled death.”
“Did you notice anything else? Was it coming from one of the men?”
“No, it was after they left. Who cares? I was in the woods, so is my cabin. Animals die on a regular basis in the woods. That has nothing to do with what happened last night." They’re just trying to conjure up some other monster to blame.
“What could have done this, then?" Cody asks Mason.
"Possibly a sloppy vampire. Do you think it could be a shapeshifter who can become different people?”
“Very rare. Not sure they’d have a rotting smell or the ability to tear people open like you described. Know about any other creature that can manipulate perceptions?”
“There’s plenty of creatures we don’t know about. I’ll have to think about it. We'll find them when you case the area. The next question would be, why would someone set me up?”
“Are you asking me? Who all have you pissed off?”
“No one capable of this.”
I feel Cody turn towards me as he puts his hand on my arm. I look up at him. “I gotta go now. I’ll follow the trail made by the killer and figure out who did this. And then we’ll kill him, and we’ll get you home. Soon, okay? Just hang in here. I know you don’t believe it, but you’re safe here. And you won't be here much longer. I'll make sure of it.”
“And if you figure out your following his trail?”
He looks at Mason, as if asking him what he should say to placate me. I realize his answer doesn’t matter; I won’t believe it anyway. Still, I want to see what he says and how earnest he says it.
“Then I’ll come back for you and get you home to your family,” he says, almost sounding sincere but falling short. It's like he wants his words to be true, but he doesn’t quite believe them himself.
I fight back tears. I was hoping he would have sounded sincere enough to convince me to believe him.
I stalk back to the bedroom and slam the door, giving in to tears once again.
How can he just leave me here?
Chapter 37
The sun has just set. Or maybe that was hours ago. After alternating napping, crying, and losing my mind, I found myself lost in the view from my window. For however long I've been staring out at the tree line against the sky, I've at least felt mostly numb.
I've only left the bedroom twice to use the bathroom. He won't let me go outside, and there's no tv here, so the window that's nailed shut is my only source of entertainment.
There’s a knock on the bedroom door. I say nothing, hoping he’ll go away.
I hear the door open.
I just want to be left alone. Actually, I just want to be left with my family, with someone who can hold me, comfort me. I’ve been fantasizing about my mom pulling me close, rubbing my back, whispering soothing words.
I ignore his presence, my glazed-over eyes still focused on what I can see of the night outside. He places something on the bedside table, and when the smell of chicken fills my nose, I start salivating. It feels like it's been a long time since the microwave meal he made me for lunch. By the smell of this one, it's probably another microwave meal. Not that I really care what I'm eating.
He stands in front of me to my left, next to the window. “I get why you tried to shoot me, now. I want you to know that I would never have hurt your friends. More importantly, I would never have done this to you. I know you lost your best friend, and you’re going through hell. I’ve tried to give you space today, because it seemed like that’s what you wanted, but I’m here for you, if you need me.”
I think he’s waiting for me to say something, but I refuse. He's given me space? In this one-bedroom cabin he won't let me leave? What a fucking guy.
“You saw through the darkness in me before and have helped me regain parts of myself, to be closer to the man I should have been. I will prove to you that I didn’t do this. Don’t give up on me yet.”
Despite my best intentions, my heart feels like it’s in my throat. God, he sounds so sincere, so sad.
Well, of course he’s sad; his stupid plan didn’t work. I can’t let him put doubts in my mind.
“You should have killed me with the rest of them, saved me from having to listen to your bullshit." I say, never taking my eyes from the window.
“You think me such a monster that I’d hit you, kill your friends in front of you, leave you to wake up alone and surrounded by all that horror? That’s not fucking me, Keegan.”
I sit up in bed, furious. “Sure, it is. You told me yourself that you are capable of so much more. You went on and on about how easily you could snap. You told me you don’t even feel anything when you kill people.”
“That doesn’t mean that I kill people for no reason.”
“They were witnesses.”
“I wouldn’t have killed them for that.”
“You did kill them for that! Because you value your life, your secret, over all of them. I know your secret though, your real one. I can only hope Cody will come to his senses when he figures it out too.”
"I don't have the ability to make you forget, and if I did, it would have worked, and you wouldn't remember a thing."
"Clearly, it didn't work on me, and you're trying to brainwash me the hard way."
"You're not special with special resistant powers," he snaps.
I feel this rage building in me, rage and hurt and fear. "Fuck you."
“You want the full truth? Maybe I am capable of killing all those people and not feeling a goddamn thing. But one thought of you would have stopped me. The one person I would do anything to save from pain and loss, is you. I wouldn’t have killed them simply because it would hurt you. I know that doesn’t exactly help you see me in a better light, but that’s the truth. I know I’ve been rough with you, but I’ve never hit you. I told you I would never hurt you, and I meant it.”
My rage boils over, and I jump out of bed and push him. Then I take a swing at his head, which he easily blocks. “And if I hit you?” I scream. I try again and again, each swing more frustrated then the last, because he dodges or blocks each one. I finally realize I’m being too predictable. I fake a punch to his face with one fist and am able to hit him in the side with the other. It's only satisfying for a moment, until I realize he's barely affected. I keep trying to hit him, wanting to see him hurt like I do, but can't seem to get a good shot.
I back up, huffing. “What? You’re not going to retaliate? Fight me back? Hit me like you did last night?”
He just stands there looking defeated. "I would never hit you."
“Stop trying to fuck with my head! What you did is burned in my mind.” I press my fingers into my temple, as if touching the memories scorching my mind. “I finally see you for the psychopath monster you truly are,” I practically scream. I jump back onto the bed, hugging my knees and staring out the window again, without really seeing anything.
“I understand why you don't believe me. And that's fine. I'll take your hate. You can hurt me more, if it lessens your pain. I’m sorry to keep you here, with a man you can no longer stomach, away from your family, but I am going to keep you alive, no matter what. I can't live in a world without you in it.”
“Keep me alive all you want, but I’m not yours." I turn to glare at him. "I’ll never be yours," I say icily.
“You’ll see that this wasn’
t me. I promise you, I will find out who did this to you, and he will suffer before I kill him.”
I don’t know how to handle all the emotions inside of me right now. And tiny doubts of Mason’s guilt begin to surface, adding to my emotional turmoil. What if he's telling the truth and this wasn't him?
No, I scold myself. He's lying again. He's just trying to manipulate me.
“I won’t hold my breath," I say. "We both know your track record when it comes to revenge.” The words leave my mouth before I can think better of them. I watch as pain crosses his face, though it quickly hardens into anger. I turn back to the window as he leaves the room, slamming the door on his way out.
I instantly feel a little bad, like maybe I went too far. But, no. He's done so much to me, taken so much from me. He deserves all the pain that I can inflict upon him.
As I stare out into the darkness, headlights appear. Cody must be back.
I wait until I hear the car door slam before I move to the living room to see what he has to say. Mason doesn't even look at me when I come in.
“What did you find?" Mason asks Cody the second he walks through the door.
“There was the smell of rotting flesh everywhere, like you described, but it was just a little bit…off. It didn't come from a dead animal or a dead—" he glances at me, looking apologetic. He turns back to Mason. "Anyway, it was nothing I’ve quite smelled before. It would have been easy to overlook, if you weren’t looking for it. I followed it through the back of her property, across a street, and it disappeared right before the next street. There were car tracks there, a few of them. I’m thinking he may have come to her house that way multiple times. The scent changed about halfway there, to a human scent, which was familiar..."
When Cody doesn't continue right away, Mason prompts him, “What do you mean familiar?”
“It smelled like you...not exactly you, but like someone closely related to you,” he says to Mason.
“You know I saw everyone related to me die over three hundred years ago.”
