The Blue Dawn was booming by ten o’clock. At the heckling
of Jonas, I decided to bring Laine, to get him out of the house. We walked in,
and there at the end of the bar were the brothers including Mason. He turned
and smiled at me as I went to him.
Jonas
lit up and put a beer mug to the air as Laine hobbled on crutches over to the
bar. “Whew! What up, bro? This here is what you need.”
I
couldn’t help but laugh. Isaac stood behind the bar and pulled out some shot
glasses and a bottle of whiskey. Lucy tended bar on the other side, and she
made her way to us. Aaron sat next to Mason, and Jonas stood on the other side.
Kristy was as was Lizzy. They came over when we walked in.
Mason
turned to me. “You all right?”
“I’m
good.”
But
he continued to look at me curiously.
“What?”
“I
don’t know,” he said. “Something’s different.”
I
thought a moment. “Well, we had a family talk about the whole mess with
Campbell and Jimmy.”
“And?”
he asked intently.
“And
I need you to drive me to the state police. Think you can do that?”
A
smiled crossed his lips. “I can do that. So now you are okay with help?”
I
shrugged, as he leaned to kiss me.
Aaron
cleared his throat. “Ahem. Not to interrupt a moment, but can we toast now?”
The
group burst into laughter. Jonas waved for Kristy to join us, and we lifted our
shot glasses.
Isaac
went first. “To healing.”
Everyone
agreed, and we drank. Lucy, Lizzy, and Kristy went back to working as Isaac
cleaned up behind the bar. Aaron sat next to Mason, drinking a beer and talking
to Jonas and Laine. The room was filled with the smell of beer, sweat, smoke,
and Coca-Cola. The aromas were overbearing at times. Pamela, one of the
waitresses, walked behind Isaac, and Jonas watched with a big grin.
“She
wants you so bad.” Jonas winked at his brother.
Isaac
said nothing but smirked.
She
came back a moment later. “Hey, Evaline.”
“Hi,
Pam. Looks like a good night.”
She
agreed and went to her table with a tray of drinks.
Kristy
came over. “It’s my break, going out for a quick smoke.”
I
jumped up. “I’ll come with you. I need some air anyway.” I turned to Mason. “Be
right back.”
He
nodded, and Kristy smiled as I followed her out the rear door. There was a
security light extending from the roof, which lit a small area with a picnic
table and a trash can. We sat on the table with our feet on the bench and gazing
out into the dark woods. Moonlight filled some dark gaps with light, and other
than the music from inside, there was silence. Kristy lit up her cigarette
“I
thought you quit?”
“Recent
reoccurrence. I guess with Mom, and now this shit with Campbell.”
I
knew the pain well.
She
bent her head to me. “Eva, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“The
Jimmy situation aside, are you happy here?”
That
was something I hadn’t thought much about. Happiness was a word which seemed so distant
with everything that had been happening lately. However, I could honestly say I
was happy with some aspects but not all. The sensation of being incomplete,
because I couldn’t find Jimmy, but the strong sense of danger I knew I was in
left me with an uncertainty, and the pressure to protect what little family I
had left at all costs weighed on me.
Then
there was Mason—my sense of safety and, strangely enough, power. My strange
attraction to him complicated everything. It wasn’t something I intended, but I
firmly believed everything happened for a reason. The reason was the riddle.
Finally,
I answered the best way I could. “I am happy here with you and Laine, but I’m
not content. I don’t think I can be until I know what happened to Jimmy.”
She
sighed. “I just—I just don’t want you to leave.”
I
shook my head. “I’m not leaving unless the danger gets too close to you and
Laine.”
Her
expression looked troubled as I continued, “Kristy, you two are all I have
left. I will not let them take you away too, and if I have to leave to keep you
safe, then I go.”
She
was about to say something in protest, but there was strange thud. We both
looked toward the old fence that separated the break area from the parking lot.
She got up and peered out into the dark. An arm reached from around the fence
and grabbed her—it happened so fast, neither of us had time to think.
I
shot up but froze as a man appeared holding Kristy tight by her throat. Her
terrified eyes locked with mine. He said nothing as he stared at me. I
recognized him. The man who had attacked me. He had a crazed look, something
wild, and his dark eyes glowed. His face seemed distorted, but I concentrated
on Kristy. When he finally spoke, I noticed his elongated canine teeth. He
resembled something from a Lon Chaney flick.
“This
wouldn’t have had to happen if you would have just backed off to begin with. If
you do not give us this supposed evidence you have, you will see how very
serious we are. Watch and learn.”
My
heart sank. Before he could move though, another man clutched me from behind. I
kicked and yelled. “You kill her, you’ll never find what I have, and you’ll all
go down!”
The
man stopped moving. He’d pricked Kristy’s throat with his knife, but now he
kept still. His head tilted.
The
man who was holding me in an iron grip spoke up. “Tell Campbell we have her and
take that one out back and finish it.”
I
screamed as he covered my mouth with his hand, my gaze never leaving Kristy as
the man dragged her out of sight. I fought with everything I had as he yanked
me toward the parking lot. Without warning, he froze then lifted his head,
sniffing the air. There, standing in front of us, was Mason, Isaac, Jonas, and
Aaron. All four had the same rage-filled look, and Mason’s gaze never left me
and the guy holding me.
“How
nice, the MacCowans came out to play.”
The
brothers didn’t even flinch. It was the first time I had heard Mason’s family
called by their ancestral name by someone other than themselves. Everyone knew
them as the Cowans. How did these men know them? Worse yet, did the brothers
know who these men were?
Isaac
had a hold on Mason, who was ready to pounce on my attacker. Isaac spoke with
firmness, but he was cool and collected as he said, “Little too far west, boys,
don’t you think?”
In
the next moment all my suspicions, all those telltale dreams, everything Jimmy
and Grandma had been trying to tell me about what Mason really was—all of it
was confirmed. It wasn’t just him—it was all four of the brothers.
I
stared at Mason, who was fixated on my attacker—who appeared to be changing as
well. Their eyes glowed bright, and their bodies heaved unnaturally. The thing
was, it didn’t matter what any of them were. Certainly didn’t matter what Mason
was either.
Right
then, all that mattered was getting to Kristy. I gritted my teeth then slammed
my head back. The crack of breaking bone sounded like a gun shot. He screeched
in pain, and his grip loosened. With a wrench of my body, I broke free of his
grasp.
Mason
and his brothers lunged at him even as I scrambled away.
Yelling
for Kristy, I bolted toward the woods. At the edge, I slowed as I caught sight
of her lying on the ground. Behind her was the same pepper-black wolf from the
hospital parking lot.
“Don’t
move,” Lucy’s voice cut through my thoughts. She came literally out of nowhere,
and now she had her hand on my arm, holding me back.
I
did what she told me to and froze, and the big wolf stopped as four equally
large wolves advanced on it. One of the four turned to me, gazing at me for a
long moment—my gray wolf. That’s when the reality of who the wolf was finally
washed over me. Every breath told me it was impossible, but my heart knew the
truth. The black wolf snorted, bared his teeth, and fled as the others took off
after him in pursuit. In a blink, my wolf was gone.
I
watched them disappear into the forest anxiously, but shook it off and ran to
Kristy, who was motionless in a pool of blood. No! No! No! I kept screaming in my head as I knelt beside her and
pulled her to me. She gasped and made gurgling sounds.
Lucy
and I put our hands to her throat to try to slow the bleeding. “Kristy, you
stay with me, please don’t leave… Don’t you leave me too.”
Lucy
was trying to soothe Kristy the best she could.
“Lucy,
we need to get her into the car.
She
shook her head. “No, the ambulance is here.”
I
observed in disbelief at the ambulance almost upon us. How did it get here so
fast?
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