“So you asked this loser?” Kyle’s jaw twitched.
“He’s not… Look, I don’t want to fight,” I said, holding up my hands. “I’m desperate to find my dad and now I need to get back home.”
“I know you’re really worried.” Kyle took off his hat and wiped a hand across his wet hair. “I didn’t mean to be an ass. I care about you. You know that.”
“What are you doing out here? Were you standing in the rain or something?”
“I was, you know, walking the neighborhood,” he said, his voice low. “Looking for you. For your dad, too.”
My heart softened a little. “Thanks.”
“I guess I didn’t realize I was drowning standing up.”
I smiled in spite of my frustration with him. “Next time, take your car.”
“You think there’ll be a next time?” Kyle replied, his gaze sweeping from my face to Alex’s house.
A porch light was on now, showing the outlines of a kitchen beyond the sheer curtains. I imagined Alex inside, finding something to eat, or maybe heading to the computer to research the snare. A cold whisper of breath traveled across my neck. Werewolf. I had a bad feeling about our discovery.
Kyle reached for my hand. His fingers were cold, damp from the rain. “Nothing is going right for either one of us lately. We’ve got to get away from this place,” he said, his brown eyes serious, pleading.
“I know,” I replied, but there was more tying me to Pioneer Falls now. Things that if they were true, Kyle could never understand.
***
Finding a squad car in our driveway made me anxious. My stomach tightened, the hope of good news mixing with the dread that everything was going to come crashing down.
“Hello?” I let myself in and hung my raincoat in the mudroom. “You guys home?”
“Hey,” Rose called. “We’re in here.”
“I smell dinner, what did you eat?”
“There’s leftover lasagna from Mrs. Carter,” Fawn said.
In the living room, I found Rose sitting in an armchair and Fawn on the floor, her laptop open. Sheriff Polson sat across from them, her posture stiff on the sagging couch.
“Any updates?” I asked, smoothing my wet hair from my face.
The sheriff got up and retrieved her hat from the couch’s armrest. “Let’s talk while you fix yourself a plate.”
I felt the dread ripple through me again. “Okay. You want some?” I asked, summoning as much calm as I could. The sheriff shook her head and followed me into the kitchen.
I lifted a square of lasagna onto a plate and popped it into the microwave. As I hit the buttons, I took stock of the kitchen; a few plates in the sink, but not too messy. When visitors were over, I was always self-conscious of the house, like it was reflection of the family. People might see a mess and think, these are the girls with no mother. But my guest didn’t seem to notice.
“I stopped by the coffee shop, and Maggie mentioned you left around lunch,” the sheriff said, taking a seat.
“I was out searching.”
“Should have known you’d be on patrol, too,” Sheriff Polson said with a little smile. “Well, we’ve distributed flyers around town, and a couple other towns in the county—Still Creek and Rocky Point. Other departments in the county are pitching in on the effort. We’re going to release more information to media outlets. Had some inquiries after you submitted that piece to the county newspaper.”
“Oh, good.” The microwave beeped. I slid the hot plate out and took a seat across from the sheriff.
She leaned back in her chair. “What areas did you cover on your drive?”
“Grant Ridge, mostly,” I said quickly. “It was pretty rainy, so we didn’t stay out long.” I didn’t want to mention Alpine Lake Road, or the snare we’d found. Something told me that keeping it secret, at least until the blood was tested, was the smart thing to do.
“And what’s happening with your court paperwork?”
I filled her in on what Mr. Jones had told me, but I left out the part where he gave me that note with the emergency number and the stuff about the North family protecting us. The last thing I needed was for her to be in on those confusing tidbits of information.
“Well, hopefully it won’t come to your filing for non-parental custody,” Sheriff Polson said, rising from the table. “Lots of volunteers showing up tomorrow to search. We’ll meet at the parking lot at mile marker four. Eight a.m. sharp.”
“Really? That’s amazing. Thank you!” I showed the sheriff out, feeling a little lift from the idea that the search party was happening. When I returned, Rose and Fawn were sitting at the table, arms crossed. From the heat of their glares, I knew they’d been eavesdropping.
“You went searching for Dad without us?” Fawn asked. “You didn’t think we’d want to come?”
“Sorry, guys,” I said, picking up my plate of lasagna and putting it back into the microwave to reheat. “I wanted to follow some of the Forest Service roads. It was tedious.”
“We’d have helped you look,” Fawn said.
“Searching with you would have been better than us hanging flyers around town today,” Rose said. “They aren’t doing any good yet.”
I got up when the microwave dinged again and pulled my plate out. “Okay, fine, I should have told you I was going searching. I’m sorry.” I took a seat at the table and finally took a bite of dinner.
Rose put her elbows on the table. “So did you find anything?”
“Nothing I wanted to tell the sheriff about.”
“Okay, that makes no sense. And I still don’t get why you didn’t ask us to come,” Fawn said. “What’s going on?”
I set down my fork. “I’ve heard some crazy stories about Dad. Theories about why he might have disappeared. I’m starting to think they could be true.” I weighed the idea of telling them about my conversation with Cooper and the letter to our mother. They’d definitely think I was losing my mind. But what about Cooper’s claim that the stone pendant around my neck was the only thing standing between me and transformation at will? I thought about the memory I’d shared with him about being at the lake swimming, the weird pull of the moon, how sick I’d felt.
My palms began to sweat. I pushed away my dinner plate.
“What’s wrong?” Fawn asked.
“It’s just…” My fingers found their way to my pendant again. According to Cooper, the twins’ sixteenth birthday was going to be their first change. Their pendants were missing. So, with or without Dad around, their transformations were going to happen. “I don’t feel well,” I managed to say.
“Yeah, you don’t look so good.” Rose retrieved a glass from the cupboard and took it to the sink.
“You probably didn’t stop for lunch, I’m guessing,” Fawn said, gesturing at my plate of lasagna. “You need to eat.”
“Here, drink this,” Rose said, setting some water in front of me.
“In a minute.” I leaned forward against the table, hugging my stomach.
Rose moved the glass closer. “What is so bad about Dad that you don’t want to tell us?”
“Nothing… I haven’t verified that the story is true.”
Fawn watched me for a long second. “I guess there’s no reason to worry, then.”
“Is there, Lily?” Rose added.
I felt a chill kiss my skin. And I knew what I had to do. Prove that all of this was made up. And there was only one way to do that. One way to put all the speculation to rest. I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to know if this curse was real.
“Okay,” I said. “You really want to help? Get your coats on.”
Chapter Six
I didn’t feel good about what I was about to do, but I didn’t see another way to put an end to speculation. So I drove back into the hills above town. If the blood curse were real, I didn’t want to run the risk of attacking anything, or anyone.
“I don’t get it,” Fawn said as I parked the truck. “Why are we on Alpine Lake Road?
It’s too dark for a hike.”
“You guys said you wanted to be involved, so I brought you along.” I left the key in the ignition and pulled on my jacket.
Fawn let out an exasperated sigh. “But you want us to stay in the truck, while you go into the woods… At night. In the dark. Are you nuts?”
“What does this have to do with Dad?” Rose asked.
“I’m hoping nothing. If I come right back, then we’ll drive home. And then we know what Cooper told me was rantings from a crazy person.” I peered out through the windshield at the half moon hanging above the ridge. It was providing some light, but I’d also brought a flashlight.
“Why are you hanging out with Cooper North?” Fawn said, crossing her arms. “I think you’re keeping several things from us.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. I wanted to get out of the truck and get this over with. “It’s a long story. I guess his dad is friends with Dad.”
“Did Cooper tell you he was up here?” Rose asked.
“No. I’m not searching. It’s more like testing something.”
“I know a lot about sneaking around in the dark. You sure you don’t want me to come?” Fawn smiled playfully, but I saw hesitation, genuine worry in her eyes.
“This is something I have to do alone,” I told Fawn. “Cell service is spotty up here, so we’ll set timers on our phones,” I said to Rose. “I’ll set mine for eight minutes, you set yours for ten. If I’m not back within a minute of your timer going off, drive the truck home without me.”
“If you’re not back, then we’re coming after you!” Fawn said, alarm in her tone.
“No,” I insisted. “Will you guys trust me for once? Stay with the truck.”
“This is crazy,” Fawn muttered. “Even for you, Lily! I don’t have my license yet.”
“C’mon, I know you’ve been practicing with Lewis.” I nodded at Rose. “Ready to synchronize?” We both tapped the start buttons on our phone timers.
“I love you guys,” I said, jumping out of the truck before I lost my nerve.
“You too,” I heard Rose say as the door closed.
It had rained earlier. Fat drops dripped like tears from the cedar branches overhead. My jacket was protection enough from the occasional splats, but a cold feeling was settling on my skin. “Courage costs,” I said, repeating something I’d once heard my father say.
The flashlight’s beam hardly made a dent in the darkness, but the moon helped illuminate the rough path, little rocks reflecting its shine. I ventured a little farther than I’d gone with Alex, but still close enough that I could be back at the truck in under two minutes. I kept vigilant for snares near the sides of the path.
“Where should I do this?” I asked aloud. Just then I rounded a curve and discovered a clearing with a stand of tall hemlocks and cottonwoods at the far end. Near where I stood, a couple of downed trees formed a makeshift bench. It seemed as fitting a place as any.
I looked up at the half moon peeking out from behind the clouds and took a deep breath. According to Cooper, a voluntary change could occur at anytime. So there was no time like the present. “I’m doing this,” I whispered into the dark, gathering my nerve. “It’s a stupid lie and nothing’s gonna happen.”
A few droplets of rain splashed my cheeks as I peeled back my hood and unzipped my coat a little, exposing my neck. With shaking hands, I reached back and unclasped the hook of the necklace. It took a second, but the pendant and cord fell into my hand. I held it up to the moonlight. The stone’s milky surface seemed iridescent now, the glow more pronounced, even in the dim light. The carving of the moon seemed more prominent, too.
“Okay. What now?” I murmured, slipping the necklace into my pocket.
The forest didn’t respond, but the shapes of the moss around me seemed to get darker, denser somehow.
Goose bumps prickled on my forearms. It occurred to me that I didn’t know for sure that the blood on the trap they’d found wasn’t from an actual wild animal. I took another deep breath and checked my phone. Only two minutes had gone by.
The phone stowed back in my pocket, I settled on the fallen log to wait. So far, the curse did not impress. Cooper was probably making stuff up. Maybe someone had even planted that letter in Dad’s memory box. It’d looked like Dad’s handwriting, but still...
The wind stirred some fallen leaves, but I also heard rustling in the brush near the trail. I held my breath as sword ferns swayed and huckleberry bushes shimmied. Finally, a gray squirrel darted out near my feet.
“You scared me,” I said to it, laughing in between relieved breaths.
The squirrel dashed off. My amusement faded as bushes moved again, this time accompanied by the sound of branches breaking. Something bigger was approaching.
“Oh, no,” I said as I stumbled to my feet. “Dad?” I called out, halfway joking but backing away from the sound regardless. My breath caught in my chest when I saw the animal making the noise. “Whoa.”
A shaggy canine face peered out from among the cottonwoods, ears perked, followed by its large wolf body—like one of the animals I’d seen at the graveyard. Its fur was dark gray and its gold eyes glowed in the dark landscape. My blood turned to ice as the wolf stopped twenty yards from me and sniffed in my direction.
It could outrun me. Wolves were fast and stealthy. Slowly, I reached for the flashlight, hoping that shining a light might scare off the beast. But before I could turn it on, my vision started to tunnel. Something was wrong.
“No, no, no!” Instantly, my skin felt as though it was on fire. Something was happening to my body. A scream tore from my throat, something low, animalistic, raw. Distantly, I saw the wolf pause his approach, ears flattened and teeth bared.
“That’s right!” I growled. “Stay back!” As my vision stabilized, I looked down at my hands, seeing them shake and the tissue beneath my skin ripple. The bones in my back ached all of a sudden and I fell back against a tree trunk for support.
“The pendant, the pendant, the pendant,” I repeated to myself as I grabbed it from my pocket and struggled with the clasp to get it open. There was a whooshing sound in my ears. Terrified, I realized it was the sound of my heartbeat, my blood rushing toward whatever was coming next in the transformation.
The wolf watched me, his tail down, ears still flat, listening. His mouth was open, all jagged teeth and tongue lolling slightly. Those eyes, burning gold in the dark.
My stomach roiled. I bent in half, holding my mid-section but finally, my clumsy fingers had the claw of the clasp ready to fasten again. I fumbled for a few seconds, my eyes on the motionless wolf. I cried out again as something in my spine spasmed.
But then I had the clasp to the pendant closed and the cord around my neck, the stone finally touching my collarbone. I closed one hand around it. “Stop. Stop. Stop,” I chanted like a desperate mantra, my eyes squeezed shut. The tree supporting me was cold and unyielding against my back. My fingers worked across the pendant’s surface, tracing the moon design, hoping for more than just comfort. I needed the protection to be true. It had to work.
Another growl came from my throat, but this time, it echoed the searing pain I was feeling inside my body. Something was trapped within me, begging to be set free. My knees buckled with fear. But then, beyond the rushing of my blood, I heard the tinny, faraway sound of my timer’s alert.
I forced my eyelids open. No wolf. I scrambled for the flashlight and pointed it toward where he’d been, washing the forest in light. The wolf was gone.
I leaned a hand against the cottonwood tree and threw up. My stomach and throat were still raw after I finally stopped, and my skin still felt on fire. I wiped my face with my sleeve, then peeled off my raincoat and tied it around my waist. Still too hot, I unzipped my hoodie, letting the cool mist reach through my T-shirt.
“We’re monsters,” I said aloud, tears collecting in my eyes. “How am I going to tell the twins?”
The twins.
I realized I had only
seconds to get to my sisters before they would bail. Fawn would make them leave, even though Rose would want to stay.
I forced the bile back down in my throat and commanded my feet to move. As I hit the path running, I glanced back toward the clearing, nervous about the animal I’d seen. But then again, if I was a wolf myself, what did it even mean to have a predator after me?
Roots grabbed at my feet as I found the trail again. The truck was probably about fifty yards ahead. I pointed the beam of the flashlight forward, scanning the trail. A light mist fell across me from the trees, soaking my T-shirt and hoodie, but it felt good on my skin.
Ahead I could make out gravel spots, empty and lonesome. The scent of exhaust tainted the air. They’d gone. For once, they’d done what I’d asked.
I laughed bitterly, catching my breath. I would’ve loved the comfort of climbing into the truck with them. Then again, it was a good thing I’d been able to stop the change with the pendant. If I’d returned to the lot as a wolf, the night could have ended tragically. If wolves like us scared or attacked people, then I was probably capable of the same carnage.
I reached in my pocket for my phone. No bars. I pushed my wet bangs out of my eyes and zipped up my raincoat. It would be a long miserable walk back to town, but now I knew the truth about our family.
And it was awful.
***
Hazard lights cut the darkness about two miles down the gravel road. The truck rested on the side of the road, right tires in the ditch. As I neared, I could see Rose in the cab.
Fawn squatted outside, the light from her phone illuminating the front fender. She swung the beam on me. “Oh, thank goodness! Are you okay?” A relieved smile surfaced on her face.
I nodded, my throat still too tight to speak. The word werewolf was circling through my thoughts. I couldn’t fathom what I’d just experienced. How horrible it’d been. I had no idea how I’d explain this to my sisters.
A Curse So Dark (Pioneer Falls Book 1) Page 9
