by MJ Caan
Cody swallowed hard, and I could tell that he was struggling to contain himself. He looked at me, and then checked his temper and continued. “I’m sorry, Dad. I did not come here to fight.”
His father seemed to accept the apology as he popped open the can and took one loud swig. “Fine. But I assume you aren’t here for a bunch of small talk, so is there something I can help you with?” He moved into the living room, settling his considerable bulk onto the couch and setting the can on the coffee table in front of him. “So? Care to tell me what brings you up this way…with her?”
I had only seen this man a few times in the past. I remembered seeing him when we were in school together, and of course I knew him from around town when he was the acting sheriff. While he had never been unfriendly, he also had never gone out of his way to make me or Gar feel at ease in Trinity Cove. As far as I was concerned, he was just an adult version of the same bullies I dealt with day in and day out in high school.
“I’m working a case,” Cody said. “I was hoping maybe you could give me a little insight on something.”
His father’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the younger man before him. “I’ve been out of the business for a long time now. Somehow, I doubt there’s anything that I’m going to be able to help you with. I left that life and I don’t want to go back to it.”
“You’ve made that pretty clear,” said Cody. “I’ve never asked you for anything since I joined the force. I wanted you to see that I can handle things on my own, and I want to make a name for myself. I would never come to you unless I thought you were the only person who could help.”
I watched his father take another long drink before placing the can back on the table and regarding both of us with a steely gaze. “First, tell me why she’s here.”
Cody glanced nervously at me, but couldn’t hold my eyes. “She’s helping me. There are things happening in town that are beyond what they taught me at the academy.”
“Does it have anything to do with the break-in at her coffee shop?” asked his father. The look of shock on our faces brought out a smug smile. “Don’t be so surprised. Some things still reach my ears, even way up here.” He finished off the can of beer and got up to go retrieve another from the refrigerator. “Sure you don’t want one?”
“No, we’re good,” said Cody. “It’s funny that you mention the break-in at the coffee shop. That’s what started all of this.”
Again, the older man’s eyes flicked from Cody to me before settling once again on his son. “The fact that you were investigating this is the only reason I know about it. You’re my son, and I still keep an eye on you.” It was the first hint of softness I had heard in his voice. I should’ve known better than to let my guard down, though; it was quickly replaced with a gruff huffing of air as he settled back into his spot on the couch.
“I can deal with the coffee shop,” I said. “That’s not what we’re here for. We need information of a more… personal nature.”
This time the older man stopped in mid-reach for the beer can. His eyes burned into me and his mouth drew back in a sneer. “And just what kind of personal information do you think I’d be willing to share with you?”
“Dad, please just stop it,” said Cody. He started to say more, but held back, seeming to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat. He turned to face me. “This was a mistake. Let’s just go.”
“I told you to stay away from her and her kind,” said Cody’s father. “But you wouldn’t listen. Ever since you were a child you are always sniffing around after her.” This made us both blush, Cody from embarrassment, me from anger. Cody stood up and head for the door, but I stayed where I was.
“What do you mean by ‘my kind’?” I said.
“Just what I said,” he replied. “There was a time when you people kept to yourselves and minded your own business. I can’t help but wonder if things wouldn’t be a lot better if you’d stayed that way.”
For some reason, this pissed me off to no end. I felt thunder and lightning rolling behind my eyes, and it was all I could do to tamp it down.
“My aunts told us what happened,” I said, leaning forward. My anger was getting the best of me and I couldn’t keep the accusatory tone out of my voice.
“I don’t know what your aunts told you as far as we’re concerned,” he said, his voice as angry as mine. “But they know nothing about me or my son, so whatever they said about him is all lies.”
“Dad, calm down,” said Cody. “They didn’t say anything about me.” He turned to look at me and nodded toward the door. “Allie, let’s just go.”
“No. We came here for a reason and we’re not leaving until we at least get some answers!” I turned to face his father as our staring contest recommenced.
“You witches just think you know it all,” he snarled. “You don’t change, and you don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire as long as you get your way in the end. I guess this is my fault. I should have left, just like everyone else with brains.”
“Yeah, I heard how you weren’t man enough to stand with my aunts and my mother when the time came,” I said. At this point I was seething, and unable to self-edit.
“Allie!” exclaimed Cody.
Before he could say anything else, his father exploded. One meaty hand grabbed the edge of the coffee table and flipped it end over end, sending it crashing into the kitchen. He stepped closer, his bulk filling the space before me, his face inches from my own as he glowered down at me.
“Your mother,” he began, stabbing his finger at my face, “was one of the bravest people, man or woman, that I have ever known in my life. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t wish to God that I had the strength to do what she had asked me to do that day.” He looked over at Cody, and his eyes started to well up with tears. “But I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it, not for one minute.”
Cody moved closer to the two of us. “Dad, what were you asked to do? Am I… I mean, was I a part of…”
“Is Cody a werewolf?” I said, finishing the sentence that he couldn’t.
Carson Hunter looked at me, but this time there was no hint of anger or aggression on his face. His shoulders slumped and he looked like a man who was resigned to the fact that he was broken. He sank back onto the couch and motioned for us to have a seat as well. “No. My son could never be one of those monsters.”
I sat down on the small loveseat and motioned for Cody to join me. I measured my next words carefully. “He’s already changed once. The more we know, the more I may be able to help him.” When he didn’t answer, I knew that I had his attention, and that maybe, just maybe, he would soon be ready to talk. “My aunts told us about the day that they worked with the townspeople to drive the warlock away.”
He nodded, closing his eyes as if to shield himself against painful memories.
“We were so young then. Most of us were about the same age as the two of you now. And yes, we agreed to help the witches. Trinity Cove had always been such a peaceful place. Everyone lived together, and everyone helped everyone else. Of course, there were secrets; what small town doesn’t have them? But they weren’t secrets that made anybody hate anyone else. Then, when the witches started to go missing, and the bodies of Shifters were turning up in the woods, torn into pieces, we knew something wasn’t right.
“I don’t know what all your aunts told you about that day, and I’m not sure I want to know,” he said to me, “but all of those humans who remained in the town knew that if we didn’t help stop this evil, there would be no town left for us. So yes, we banded together with the witches and Shifters to drive this darkness out of the Cove. Did your aunts tell you everything that happened?”
“They told us what they knew. They told us everything up to the point where the townspeople—and you among them—found the children of the wolves.”
Carson Hunter leaned back and tried to swallow the unpleasantness of the memories that we had dredged up. I looked over Cody and could se
e that the blood drained from his face. His olive toned features had suddenly gone waxen.
“Yes, we found them, all right. And her mother,” again he cut his eyes to me, “told us to put them all down.”
He let that hang in the air, twisting and churning the tension until it matched the feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“The spell they cast prevented any Shifter from changing. One of the witches who stood with us said that these babies had never Shifted into their wolf form, that they were innocent. But your mother said that with werewolves, there was no such thing. She continued on with the others, going deeper into the cave to confront the warlock. The rest of the humans and I gathered up the babies and made our way back outside. We knew what we were supposed to do, but none of us, not a single person, could bring ourselves to do it.” He looked at Cody, tears rolling freely down his face. “I don’t care if it was the right thing to do or not; I could not bring myself to smash you with a rock. I just couldn’t do it.”
Carson leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, one hand supporting his head as his body became racked with spasms. Cody and I exchanged glances, neither of us knowing what to do or say. I had never even seen my younger brother cry, so I could only imagine what Cody must be feeling, seeing his father so overcome with emotion.
“I couldn’t do it to you,” Carson said, looking at his only son through teary eyes. “None of us could do it; we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do what she asked us to do.”
“Mr. Hunter?” I said. “What did everyone do?”
“You have to understand, my wife and I… we had just lost our daughter. I was carrying you out of that cave, Cody, and the way you moved in my arms, the small sniffling cries you made…it all reminded me so much of her.” He paused here, swallowing the dryness in his throat and trying to make himself say what needed to be said. “So I kept you. I brought you home and asked my wife to love you just as she would any child that she had borne. The rest of the townsfolk did the same thing, those who had maybe lost a child and couldn’t have another, or those who were way too compassionate that day; they all kept one of the babies.”
“So all this time… I mean… I’ve never…” Cody’s words tripped over one another. I could tell he was trying not to ramble, but was incapable of forming a coherent thought. His eyes were focused and his voice steadied. This time his words were crystal clear. “Am I the reason Mom left us?”
“She couldn’t take it,” his father replied. “She said that she couldn’t bond with you after what we had just been through with your sister, Rebecca.” Cody’s gaze seemed far away as he listened to his father. “Your sister was everything to her. I believe deep down she really did love you, but after everything that happened, she knew that staying in this town would never work for her. Just like I knew that leaving here was not an option. Many of the others who… adopted, for lack of a better word, the rest of your siblings did leave town. They just wanted to start new lives where no one knew who they were or questioned their children.”
“So all this time…” I said, “has anyone ever come around asking questions about Cody? Does anyone else know?”
Carson shook his head. “We made a pact never to reveal this to a living soul. That’s another reason why so many left town, so the children would have no contact with one another. We never even told one another the names we gave them.”
“Has he ever Shifted in the past?” I said. I was feeling anxious about all of this and didn’t want, to drag this out.
“Never,” said Carson. “After all the mess with the warlock was settled, one of the witches told us that because the children were locked to human shape by magic and had never Shifted to their other form , Shifting would be impossible for them. It was no longer part of their makeup. And for the most part, as far as I know, they’ve all led normal lives.”
My ears pricked up at that. “For the most part? You just said for the most part they were normal. Does that mean there was something…abnormal at some point?”
Cody’s father looked down, his feet moving restlessly on the outdated shag carpeting. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he got up off the couch and walked to the back of the home. When he returned, he had a large manila folder wrapped with a red rubber band, trying to contain the fading, dog-eared, loose-leaf paper stuffed within it. He handed the bundle over to Cody.
“There. It’s all in here. I’ve kept all your medical records since the day I brought you home. I can’t speak for the others, but everything I know is in that folder.”
Cody stared at the packet for a full minute before he finally handed it over to me. He stood and nodded for me to follow him out the door. His father reached for his son’s arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“You’re still my son,” he said. “I don’t care what you find in that packet, or what she tells you. You will always be my only son.” He looked at me one last time, his eyes narrowing. “But I wish to God you had listened to me and stayed far away from those witches.”
I started to turn the doorknob, but had one last question. “Mr. Hunter, does the name Mallis mean anything to you?”
“No. Should it?” he said. I shook my head and started out the door, but was stopped by Cody’s voice.
“How about Alexander Tilden? Do you recognize that name?” he said.
His father visibly paled at the question. The blood drained from his features so quickly that the man had to sit back down to keep from passing out.
“Dad? How do you know that name? His body was found at Singing Falls a couple of days ago.”
His father drew a deep breath before looking up at us. “He is… was… one of the other parents. He was raising one of the children as well. He moved away right after everything happened, and had vowed to never set foot in this town again. What happened to his son? He had taken one of the boys as well.”
“There were no other bodies found,” said Cody.
“Mr. Hunter,” I said, “is there something you’re not telling us? Because the look on your face says that something just terrified you.”
He didn’t hesitate to answer this time. “A few of us have been in touch as of late.” He slouched back into the couch and heaved a sigh, as if just saying the words brought relief. “A message has been going around to all of us, so we reached out to one another to try and decide if it was real.”
“What kind of message?” I asked.
“Someone had been contacting us saying that they have a cure,” he said, his eyes locking in on Cody. “Of course I didn’t believe it, plus you and I had not been speaking when I received the message. It seemed fishy; whoever claimed to have this cure left a contact number and nothing else. Alex was one of the ones who was hopeful and said he responded.”
“From everything I understand, werewolves are born the way they are. There’s no curing them, because what they are is not a disease,” I said.
“Yeah, well you haven’t seen what I and some of the other parents have seen. And in all honesty, it’s something I never want to see again,” he replied.
Cody and I looked at one another, trying to contain our excitement. This may have been the break that we were looking for.
“Dad, we need that contact information,” Cody said.
His father sighed heavily and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He keyed in a code, made a few swipes, before tossing his phone back onto the couch. “There, I just sent it to you.”
Cody checked his phone before nodding to his father. “Thank you.”
As we were walking out the door, his father made one last plea. “Cody, take my word for it: if you get involved with these witches, I can only hope that you live long enough to regret it.”
23
“Trust me, they’re the best,” Cody said as he turned the steering wheel.
After we had left his father’s house and Cody had said goodbyes to Jasper, we made our way back to Trinity Cove. Cody decided we should stop and grab a bite to eat.
�
��I’m really not big on hot dogs,” I had said. Cody had told me he knew where a diner was on the way home that served the world’s best grilled hotdog and chili fries. To say the least, I was skeptical; I mean, had he really tried every hotdog in the world? But I agreed to it, partly because my stomach was starting to growl, but also because I wanted a chance to talk about what our next steps should be.
As soon as we got into the car I started reading the contents of the manila folder. Cody made me promise to read anything out loud that I found alarming. I had to give his father credit; his record-keeping had been meticulous. Everything was arranged in chronological order, starting with a full checkup of Cody beginning at four days old. While I was no expert on medical matters, everything I was reading seemed pretty cut and dry. It was borderline boring. I was into his teen years when suddenly it hit me.
“Hey,” I said, just as Cody was pulling the car into the parking lot of a silver trailer with a neon light flashing above it that said “Red Dogs.” “Have you ever had a cold? Or serious injury?”
“Not that I remember,” replied Cody. “Why?”
“Because that’s what’s missing from this chart. Illness and injury.”
“So? I’ve always been healthy.”
“Yes, but you were also a teenager, and you were active in sports. Gar has had multiple sprains and injuries, and he only runs cross-country. Boys are naturally more danger-prone because they typically take more risks physically. But according to these records, you’ve never so much as twisted an ankle or sneezed.”
“Huh, you’re right,” Cody said as he turned off the ignition. “I guess I never really thought about it.”
I contemplated bringing the file into the diner with me to read some more as we ate, but then thought better of it. I slid it under the seat so it wouldn’t be exposed before following Cody through the door of the fifties-era establishment. The diner was small on the inside, consisting of a bar top with an open kitchen behind it, and a few rows of banquette-style booths. The seats were covered in red faux leather, and faced one another across a narrow white laminate table that was bolted to the floor on a single pedestal. Cody waved, signaling to one of the waitresses by pointing at a booth in the corner near the rear of the diner. The waitress nodded, and Cody smiled and led me to the back of the restaurant.
