“How was that compared to the other me?”
“Less dog breath,” he deadpanned.
And then everything wonderful was over.
The tree shook violently. The bear was below us and shaking it with its large limbs. Though it wouldn’t support us, we had no choice but to climb up to the top of the tree. We moved our feet quickly, but already the tree started to tip over, like a heavy star on top of a Christmas tree. Between the fact that we were slowly getting closer to the ground, and the shaking, we didn’t have long until our options were out. I guess our options had run out a long time ago.
My hands began losing their grip on the branches. I was going to fall.
I looked at Dex, eyes wide. He quickly grabbed my arms but I only brought him down with me.
We fell out of the tree and landed on the ground in a painless THUNK. I rolled over slowly in the opposite direction of the bear. I didn’t want to see this. I focused on the trees in the glen, the moonlight, the soft breeze.
I felt Dex roll over on top of my body and cover me. It was touching. It was useless. But at least I knew he’d do anything to protect me. Even when all hope was lost.
I heard the roar and the growl and the ground rumbled beneath us.
I was about to close my eyes to it all. It was time to go. Time to say goodbye.
“Nooooo!” someone yelled in full panic.
I moved my head and saw two figures running towards us. One had a shotgun aimed beyond us. The other was making a move to stop him.
The shotgun blasted out in a fiery explosion that lit up the base of the surrounding trees. I heard an otherworldly roar.
The second figure, who I now recognized as Will, tried to attack the shooter, but his tall frame was too much for him. He shrugged him off and fired again, maybe at the wolf. Maybe at Will’s wife.
It was Maximus. The real Maximus. He lowered the shotgun. I could see the black shapes of the bear and wolf run off into the trees and disappear.
Will fell to his knees and covered his face. Maximus left him and ran over to us, stooping in front of me.
“Are y’all OK?”
“Hey man, nice shot,” Dex said from on top of me. He rolled off and got to his feet, then together both he and Maximus hoisted me up so I was on my own two legs.
I looked around. The tree looked partly demolished. The wolf and the bear were gone. Will was crying a few feet away. I guess he believed enough to know what Sarah was capable of. I felt a tinge of pity for him, he was the real victim in all of this, but most of all I just felt utter exhaustion. It was as if all my feelings had been used up in the last five minutes. There was nothing left in me.
“I got here as soon as I could,” Maximus said, squeezing my shoulder.
I nodded, trying to convey the gratitude I felt.
“Thank you,” I said meekly. “You did good.”
Maximus shook his head. “I don’t reckon there is anything good coming out of this.”
A bunch of voices came out from the brush and a few more people came running out, big searchlights in hand. It was the sheriff, Miguel, and two other people I didn’t recognize.
Maximus sighed. “Now it’s the time to explain the fuck out of this thing.”
I looked at Dex. He looked as drained as I did. He put his arm around me and pulled me in slightly.
“Let’s get it over with,” he said. I just wanted to crawl into his car and drive away, but I suppose with the police and who else knows involved, someone had to answer to something. Even if that someone was me.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We ended up going into the Lancaster’s living room and having an informal hearing of sorts. Miguel stood outside on the porch with a shotgun, keeping watch, just in case. Skinwalkers were not easy to kill and there was a good chance that Sarah and Shan were still out there, though there was no shot in hell that they could return to their normal lives. Bittersweet for Will, to know she was probably still alive but that she would never be his wife again.
I felt stupid trying to explain to the sheriff and his colleagues what had happened to me, but it was apparent that they believed me. That was a huge help as even I didn’t believe myself half the time. I think it would take me a very long time to actually grasp what happened. Maybe never.
The motives of Shan and Sarah were based on anger and I’m sure other things that we didn’t understand. Even Will was in the total dark about everything. But the more we discussed the truth, the more that Will accepted what happened, and then informed us of other strange happenings that had gone on through the years. It was only this year though, that his livelihood, sheep, had been affected, and he finally decided to do something about it. So many secrets, so many blind eyes.
The rest was fitting in with what Sarah had told me. Rudy was a threat. Bird was still a friend somehow, so they only hurt him, not killed him, though it would have easily turned that way. Like many people driven to murder, sooner or later, everyone becomes a victim if you get in their way.
Rudy still hadn’t been found. The cops were slightly optimistic but that was probably their youth. I believed Bird when he said Rudy would never come back. He was gone, and wherever he was, I hoped it was peaceful.
They probably gained a bit of power by killing Rudy, hence why they were able to shapeshift into humans and a bear, two things that weren’t usually done. Had they gotten a hold of Dex, as Sarah said they planned to, there was no telling what would have happened.
The more we all talked though, the more we were all assured that none of us were crazy, even if at times I really had felt like I was. A lot of that could be blamed on the drugs. Apparently I was dosed with something similar to peyote that caused disorientation and hallucinations. That fact made me second guess some of the things I saw, but there was no denying what Dex and I witnessed in front our eyes. Just our luck though, that no one else saw it. Maybe it was always going to be that way with us. Maybe that’s why we were “special.”
Still, I had wondered if the drugging substance was the same as what I had found in my pants, but Maximus told me that Bird had slipped that in my pocket as a means to protect me. It was just simple white ash. I couldn’t say it helped me escape from the tack room, but I couldn’t say it didn’t, either.
At the end of the night, I couldn’t say much, actually. Dex and I were squeezed on the armchair together, and as they all talked and made up plans, I felt myself nodding off.
“Before we forget,” Fred, the sheriff said, getting up off the couch. He reached beside him and handed us a bag. We peeked lazily inside. It was our shoes, pants and Dex’s iPhone. Everything that we had left at Rudy’s, plus his laptop that they found while out combing the desert.
Dex looked overjoyed to be reunited with his electronics again. I looked up at Fred, who had a grandfatherly face and a huge beard.
“What’s going to happen to Boy Boy?” I asked. “What about Rudy’s bar?”
“Don’t you worry about those things. I’m sure Boy Boy will show up and I know Will could use a good friend right now. Everything’s in our hands. You guys just go home.”
Maximus got up and stretched his large frame. “He’s right you know. I got us all hotel rooms.”
Thank goodness. I couldn’t stay here another night without going insane, and I knew that the place would be buzzing with the investigation until the wee hours of the morning.
We shuffled out of the house. Fred patted us on the back and sent us off. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Will but maybe that was for the best. We did get a chance to wave at Miguel, who stood on the porch, shotgun in hand. He kept his face stony and tipped his hat at us. For some reason, it meant a lot.
We got into Maximus’s car and drove in silence up the road. A few minutes later, the Jeep came into view, stalled in the middle of the road, just where we had left it.
Maximus parked his car and handed me a room key. “Here you guys go. Room 13, for luck. See you in the morning.”
I looked down at the room key. There was only one of them. I guess I was sharing with Dex, then. I met Maximus’s jovial eyes. He smiled to himself.
We got out of the car. He waited until Dex was successfully able to start the car before driving off.
We didn’t waste much time either. I never wanted to see the dark, unending desert again. Dex gunned the car and we drove straight to the hotel. The drive was quick and silent and I don’t think either of us breathed until the lights of the hotel came into view like a comforting beacon. We exhaled gratefully and made our way to the room.
Maximus’s car was parked just a few doors down, another promising sight.
Dex flung open the door. It was a small room, a bit dusty with a few roaches scattering when I flung on the light, yet it was the most welcoming sight. It was downtrodden but it felt safe.
Of course, there was only one bed. Figured Maximus would set it up like that for a laugh. I didn’t care though. Even if I had been put in another room, I would not have been able to sleep without Dex at my side. Especially not on this night, of all nights.
We put our bags down. I pulled out a clean tee shirt and slipped it on in the bathroom. I didn’t even look in the mirror. I was too tired and on autopilot to deal with anything else except going to bed and putting this whole trip behind me.
I came out of the bathroom and Dex went in. We still weren’t saying much except for a few small talk phrases. That was fine with me.
I got in on my side but left the side table light on.
Dex came out of the bathroom. I turned to look at him. He was thinner now, somehow. I felt like I was looking at him through new eyes. I was envious of how he could lose weight after only a few days, but I think I was feeling a bit skinny as well. His chest was bruised and scratched up from who knows what. He looked like a rough and tumble warrior, world weary after war. I liked that idea of him very much. The tattoos scrawled across his chest and arm only added to the appeal.
He got into bed and switched off his bedside light.
“Do you mind if I keep mine on?” I asked. He shook his head.
“Of course not.”
He rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling.
“It won’t keep you up?”
“Kiddo, nothing is going to keep me up tonight,” he answered. He turned his head to look at me and opened his arm invitingly.
“Are you going to come here or not?” he asked, half serious.
I smiled shyly and moved over, resting in the crook of his arm and placed my head on his warm chest. His heart thumped steadily beneath it. The sound was undeniably soothing.
With his other hand he brought the blanket in higher around us, tucking us in.
I started to drift off. But there was one thing I had to say.
“Dex,” I whispered.
“Mmmm?” he grunted.
“I hope you never stop feeling alive.”
I could have sworn his heart skipped a few beats. He tensed. Then relaxed.
“As long as you’re around,” he said softly, “I’ll be alive.”
“Dex,” I said again, mumbling into his chest.
“What?”
“I was fired from my job. Last week.”
“I see. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ll be OK, kiddo. You’ll see.”
He squeezed me with his arm and placed a poignant kiss on my forehead.
“I told you I’d get to the bottom of you,” he said.
I smiled. I hoped he would. Bit by bit.