by Willow Rose
It was possible since Ruelle came from a family of wolves, but the thing was, she wasn't one yet. She was going to be as soon as she turned eighteen, but she wasn't yet. Could she have turned Melanie anyway?
It didn't seem plausible.
Amy glanced at Jayden once again, worried about Robyn and what she was going to talk to them about. Jayden smiled back at her and seemed all goofy and happy. It annoyed her immensely since it was a long time since she last felt anything remotely close to happy. She kept having this anxious feeling inside her stomach, and it simply wouldn't go away. On the contrary, it was like it grew stronger and stronger every day.
Was life ever going to be normal again?
Chapter Thirty-One
They were late. At least that's how it felt. They probably got there as fast as they could, but I was waiting anxiously and felt like it took them forever to get there. Jayden arrived first, even though he was riding his bike. He smiled widely and waved when he saw me, then threw his bike in the grass before plunging toward me and clumsily throwing himself at me in a deep embrace.
"Where were you all day?" he asked. "I looked for you."
He planted a big kiss on my lips. I stumbled backward, quite surprised. Jayden chuckled and pulled me close again. I could hear Amy's truck roaring in the background and could see it as she parked behind the trees. Seconds later, she came rushing toward us, red in the face from exertion.
"I got here as fast as I could," she said, panting. "I ran into Alondra in the parking lot, and you know how much she talks. Sorry."
"It's okay," I said and pulled out of Jayden's embrace. "As long as you’re both here."
"So, what's going on?" Amy asked.
I exhaled. I had rehearsed what to say so many times while driving back, but now, as I stood in front of my friends, I couldn't remember any of what I had planned to say.
"Where were you all day?" Amy continued. "I was worried about you."
"I…it's hard to explain," I said. "Maybe I should show you instead."
Amy looked even more confused. "Show us what?"
I scanned the area around us to make sure no one was listening in on our conversation, but the park seemed empty.
"It's in the trunk of my car. Come."
Amy's eyes flew open wide. I started to walk, and she followed me closely. "I…In y-your trunk?"
I walked up to the car and unlocked it. As I was about to open the trunk, Amy stopped me.
"Please, don't tell me you have a body in there."
Jayden came up behind me and looked over my shoulder. "Stop it, Amy. Of course, she doesn't."
I tilted my head slightly. "Well…it's close."
I opened the trunk and moved away for them to be able to look inside. "See for yourselves."
Amy whimpered, then peeked inside the trunk. As she saw what was in there, she pulled backward with a loud shriek. She turned to look at me, searching for an explanation.
"What the heck is that?" she said, fighting her gag reflex. "Is th-that…R-Ruelle?"
I swallowed, then shook my head. "It is, and it isn't."
"D-did you…?"
"No! I found this. In the barn at the abandoned farm where Jayden was kept," I said.
Jayden shook his head, clasping his mouth. "But…what is it, Robyn? What the heck is it?"
Both sets of eyes were on me.
"I’m not sure," I said. "But it's hollow. Like a skin."
"A skin?" Amy almost yelled.
I shushed her, then closed the trunk again. Jayden wrinkled his forehead. "I…I don't understand."
"Neither do I," I said. "But something is off here. The real Ruelle is still with the police. This is some sort of skin that someone used to…impersonate her."
"What…?" Amy said. "I don't get it."
"I don't either. Not completely."
"So, what are you saying?" Jayden asked, still looking like he wanted to throw up.
"I’m saying I don't think Ruelle kidnapped you."
"Excuse me?" Jayden said. "But I was with her, I saw her…she was…it was her, I’m telling you, those eyes…it was her."
"What if it wasn't?" I asked. "I mean think about it. You told me she was acting differently before it happened, remember?"
Jayden looked puzzled. "I…well…I don't really…"
"That's right. I remember you saying things like she became kind of wild and her room was all cleaned up," Amy said. "You don't recall that?"
"I hardly think that has anything to do with…"
"I think it has," I said. "I don't think it was Ruelle at all. Maybe for a long time before she tried to kidnap you."
Jayden shook his head. "No. It was her. I know Ruelle."
"Look at the facts," I said. "A new girl has gone missing from the park…again. Ruelle is in police custody. It can't be her. I say this killer—whoever he is—is still on the loose."
Amy gasped lightly.
"What?" I asked.
She gave me a look. "What if it’s Kipp?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I…he was here on Saturday night; he told me he saw the girl, the one who is missing…"
"Carina Robinson? That was the girl he saw and who saw him?" I asked.
Amy nodded, biting her nails. "Yes. That was her. Ever since I found out it was the same girl, I’ve been worried that he…that he might have hurt her somehow. Now, I’m wondering if he could be the killer."
"Let's not jump to conclusions," I said. My eyes fell on Jayden, who had suddenly changed expressions. He too seemed deeply troubled.
"You okay, Jay?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I…so, you're saying that maybe I was wrong about Ruelle?"
I swallowed. I hadn't thought about that part of it. This meant Jayden had no reason to hate her, no reason to not want to be with her, no reason to be with me.
"I…I need to…" Jayden started to back up. Tears were springing to his eyes and my stomach churned.
"Jayden, please."
"I…I have to…go," he said, then turned around and ran for his bike. I watched him leave as a tear escaped the corner of my eye. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. His newfound love for me was only a substitute for her because he thought she was someone else.
Chapter Thirty-Two
"I’m sorry."
Amy wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me, almost pressing all the air out of my lungs. She was incredibly strong for her size.
I felt like crying, like sobbing and wailing, but for some reason, I couldn't. I guess I was too stunned, too shocked. I had really thought Jayden wanted me back for real, that he had been thinking about me in that basement. It had never occurred to me that I could be his second choice. The way he had looked at me, the way he had kissed me and held me in his arms had made me believe in us again, had made me dream about us again.
I wiped a tear away from my cheek and sniffled when Amy let go of me.
"I’m sorry," she said again, her face torn in distress. I knew she didn't do well when people were sad. It made her uncomfortable, and she always thought it was her job to make them happy again.
"It's not your fault," I said and forced a smile to make her feel more comfortable. Or at least less uncomfortable.
"I could just…" she said and clenched her fist. She lifted it in the air in the direction where Jayden had disappeared. "That Jayden. I just wanna…"
I chuckled. "Yeah, you and me both. But there really isn't much we can do about it. If he loves Ruelle, then she's the right one for him. Not me. I’m just angry with myself for going down this road again, for letting this happen to myself. I really believed in us this time, you know?"
Amy nodded. "I do. I was rooting for you too. Totally shipping you two. I always have. I can't believe that…ugh; he makes me so mad."
I chuckled and fiddled with the keys in my hand. "Yeah, well you and me both. I should…"
She looked into my eyes. "You sure you're going to be all right? You could come with me
back to my house, and I could throw together a baked ziti or something like that."
I smiled and put my hand on her shoulder. "I’m not really hungry, but thanks."
I walked to my car, and Amy yelled after me.
"I could also bring it tomorrow for school or come over with it later tonight?"
'It's okay, Amy. Really. I'll be fine."
"Ah, okay."
Her shoulders slumped. It was almost like she was genuinely disappointed that I didn't want her to cook for me. I was about to open the door to my car when I lifted my head and looked at her instead.
"You know what? Baked ziti sounds awesome. Does it come with your famous garlic knots?"
Amy's face lit up. It was sweet how badly she wanted to cheer me up. She was a true friend in all this, and we needed to stick together, especially with Jazmine still in the hospital.
"You wanna come back to my place?" she asked cheerfully. "I can have it…"
She stopped. Her eyes had fallen on something in the bushes behind me. "What's that?" she asked.
I turned around to look while Amy approached me and pointed.
"There. Right there in the bushes," she said. "Is that…?"
I clasped my mouth and nodded with a whimper. Sticking out from beneath the dense bushes was an arm wearing a red jacket.
Chapter Thirty-Three
I was a mess. So was Amy. We called Jayden's dad, Sheriff Smith, and watched as they pulled Carina Robinson's entire body from beneath the bushes. I gasped as I saw how her chest had been ripped open by big claws and her face disfigured.
"It looks like an animal attack," the sheriff said, worried.
"That's one big animal," his deputy said.
Sheriff Smith gave him a look, then glanced cautiously at Amy and me before nodding. "Yeah, well, not the first around here."
"A mountain lion perhaps?" his deputy said and looked up toward the mountains. "Or a bear?"
"Maybe it was a wolf," another voice said.
We looked up and into the very narrow eyes of a spider-woman. I gasped and pulled away. She wasn't alone. Behind her stood six of the spider-men. All were wearing long black coats. The woman in front showed Jayden's dad a badge. I hadn't seen her before on our street. She looked like the men except for a small stripe of black hair across her round bald head and a red birthmark on her neck shaped like an hourglass. Other than that, she looked just like the men standing behind her with their long skinny legs, round heads, and lipless smiles.
"FBI," she said. "We're taking over here now."
"Excuse me?" Sheriff Smith said. "The FBI is taking over the case of an animal attack?"
The spider-woman nodded. "Yes. We need you to clear the area."
She turned her head like an owl and looked at Amy and me. Amy whimpered and held me tight.
"This is a crime scene, and I don't want anything—or anyone—contaminating it."
Jayden's dad stepped up. "Wait a minute, Mrs…?"
"Mactans. Agent L. Mactans," she said.
"Mrs. Mactans," the sheriff repeated. "So far, I don't see how this has anything to do with…"
She lifted a hand to stop him. "Take it up with your superior. I don't have time for this."
"But…" Jayden's dad tried, but there was no more he could do. The woman would no longer listen to him. The place was soon swarmed by long-legged policemen swaying back and forth, and we were told to leave. Sheriff Smith called his superior but was told this was in the hands of the FBI now. He would just have to let it go.
"I guess they’ve taken over now," he said with a deep sigh as we walked back to our cars.
Amy was still shaking as we reached her truck and I told her I would give her a ride home. No one spoke in my car as we drove toward our street. I felt sick to my stomach, thinking about what had happened to Carina Robinson, and my mind kept circling about the skin in my trunk. It didn't just look like Ruelle. If I didn't know any better, I would say it was Ruelle. How was it even possible to create a skin to look exactly like her? Looking so much like her that her parents and her boyfriend were all fooled?
Chapter Thirty-Four
"What's wrong, Amy? You look like you're coming down with something."
Amy was sitting in her living room on the couch when her mother entered. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there. Robyn had stayed with her for a while, maybe an hour or so, but it could have been more. Amy wasn't sure. All she knew was that every time she closed her eyes, she saw the body of Carina Robinson the way she had looked when they had pulled her out from the bushes. Her ripped apart face and chest, the blood, the flesh, and then the red jacket that was torn to pieces.
The sheriff had been correct; it was an animal all right that had attacked her.
"What are you doing in here?" her mother continued. "You're usually never in the living room. You're not getting sick, are you?"
"Someone was found," Amy said with a low voice.
"Someone what? I don't understand, Amy; why are you acting so strangely? Talk to me."
Her mother sat on the couch next to her, her eyebrows wrinkled in deep worry.
"What's going on, baby? You're not being yourself."
Amy looked at her mother, looked into her sweet and gentle eyes, then started to cry.
"We found a body, Mom. It was terrible."
"A body?" her mother said, appalled. "What are you talking about, sweet child?"
"It was…awful, Mom. She was…ripped open, like a wolf had attacked her," Amy said.
"Oh, dear Lord," her mom said and clasped her mouth. Amy leaned into her chest and tried to hide from this cruel world.
"Her name was Carina," she mumbled. "Carina Robinson. She went to our school."
"The girl who was missing?" her mom said. "But I thought…"
"That they had caught the killer? Yeah, well, didn't we all?" Amy said and glanced out the window at the neighbor's house, where she spotted Kipp sitting on the patio outside, playing his guitar. It was cold out there at this time of year now, but it was the only place his foster parents would let him play. They didn't like him making noise inside the house he had told her. Was that even true? Was anything he had told her true?
"So, you're telling me it wasn't that girl…from the wolves’ family…what's her name again?" her mom asked.
"Ruelle," Amy said, still staring at Kipp. "I don't think anyone really knows, Mom. If she did it or not. Maybe someone just…pretended to be her when doing all those things, when attacking Alyssa and Jazmine and kidnapping Jayden."
Amy's mom went quiet, then added a small:
"Oh."
She paused again before asking:
"Who?"
Amy sighed deeply.
"That's the million-dollar question, Mom. But we might be closer to the answer than you think."
Amy rose from the couch and walked toward the sliding doors leading into the yard.
"What do you mean, Amy?"
Amy didn't answer. She opened the sliding doors and went outside while her mom yelled behind her:
"If you're going out, then at last put on a jacket, Amy. Amy!"
Chapter Thirty-Five
Amy rushed through the yard toward the fence, sensing how her nostrils were beginning to flare. She stopped and took a second to calm herself down, so her dragon wouldn't suddenly show up. This was not the time.
She took a couple of deep breaths, controlling it, and when she opened her eyes, Kipp was right in front of her, climbing the fence on the other side. He was smiling his endearing smile.
"Hi there."
Amy reacted with a puff that sent a cloud of smoke out of her nose and clasped her face to hide it.
"I thought I heard someone huffing and puffing on the other side. What are you doing?" he asked.
She shook her head and willed her dragon back. She succeeded and soon felt calmer.
"Did you hear they found a body?" she asked, ignoring his question. She studied his face, wanting to see his reaction.
"Really?" he said.
"In the park," she said, scrutinizing him.
"Oh, wow."
"It was her. Carina Robinson."
Kipp swallowed. He stared at her, looked into her eyes, and she knew he could tell what she thought. He jumped down on her side of the fence.
"Oh, no, no, no," he said.
"She saw you…and now she's…now she's…dead," Amy said, tears piling in her eyes. "H-how do you explain that?"
He shook his head. "I didn't hurt her, Amy. I…I swear…I could never…it's not…I don't…you know me, Amy. You know me better than that."
"Do I?" she asked, holding her tears back. "Because it seems to me I don't know you at all."
"What on Earth do you mean, Amy? You're my girlfriend…?"
"Am I? Because it doesn’t really seem that way. You completely ignore me when we're in school or anywhere else for that matter. I really can't tell that we are dating."
He looked confused. "Okay, is this about Carina or about us? I’m not sure I completely understand."
"Why don't you ever talk to me in school? Are you that embarrassed by me?" she asked.
"No. It's nothing like that. I thought you wanted to keep it a secret," he said. "You told me you didn't want everyone to know, remember?"
Amy bit her lip. She did remember saying that, but she hadn't meant it like that. He could at least talk to her and not ignore her, couldn't he?
"I thought you wanted it that way, Amy," he repeated. "I’m sorry if that's not how you feel. I must have misunderstood you, then."
"I thought…I thought…that it was because I wasn't one of…them."
"The cheerleaders? Ha! You think I am interested in any of them? Are you kidding me? Can any of them blow fire out of their nostrils, huh? Can any of them make sushi from scratch? Can any of them fly or beat the crap out of nasty spider-men? No. But you can, Amy. You are so much more than any of them."
Amy felt taken aback and had to gasp to breathe. No one had ever talked like that to her.
