“Oh my God!” Nancy put a hand to her chest. Then she shouted, “Don’t go out there! Kira—did you hear me, young lady? I said do not go out there!”
But she wasn’t keeping me back. Not after I’d heard Gary Spaulding say Nick’s name and then heard the awful screaming. What if Gary had shot him and Nick was out there writhing in pain and bleeding to death? I had to get to him!
Running to the basement door I stepped outside wearing only my ragged towel and still clutching the butcher knife, as though it would do any good against whatever monster or devil was out there. The grass was cold on my bare feet as I ran heedless, into the night.
Halfway between the house and the barn, I found a figure lying on the ground but it wasn’t Nick—it was Gary Spaulding, screaming and clutching his groin. There was blood everywhere—it was easy to see because of the full moon rising high in the sky. The blood looked black in the moonlight, like someone had spilled a gallon of black paint all over my foster father’s crotch.
There was something else too—a dark figure running for the trees at the edge of the Spauldings’ property. It was shaggy, as though it was covered in fur but it clearly wasn’t a bear as Gary had thought. Nor was it a wolf, though its head had a distinctly wolf-like shape. It was running on two legs, not four—it must be human—right?
“Nick?” I shouted, wondering if it could possibly be him. But if it was and he had shifted, why hadn’t he turned into an actual wolf, like other Weres did? I had never heard of a wolf that could run on two legs.
The figure paused for a moment and I saw the furry ears atop its head swivel towards me. Then he—or it—I still didn’t know if it was a human or an animal or some strange mixture of the two—loped into the woods and was gone.
Nancy wound up having to call an ambulance for Gary—his crotch had been severely mangled and his penis and both testicles had been severed. The dogs were so hysterical they bit two of the EMTs when they tried to treat him, so Animal Services was called for them.
It was a complete circus and Nancy blamed it all on me.
“You did this! You did it!” she shrieked at me, when the ambulance and Animal services were finally gone about two hours later.
I backed away from her, hands raised.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “You heard the EMTs—Gary was attacked by some kind of wild animal. How could I have anything to do with that?”
“I don’t know, but I know you did! You and that horrible Nick—there’s something not right about you—both of you! You’ve been nothing but trouble from the minute you came here!”
I wondered uneasily if she had somehow sensed the Were blood that both Nick and I carried—though he had twice as much as me. Or maybe she was just upset and wanting someone to take it out on—and of course, I was the easy target.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said flatly. “But I do know I didn’t have anything to do with what happened tonight.”
Nancy narrowed her eyes at me spitefully.
“You little liar—you and Nick probably planned it between you! Well, he might not be here, but you’re spending the night in the box to teach you a lesson.”
I drew myself up to my full height. I had no idea what had happened tonight or if Nick had somehow been involved or not. But I did know one thing—I was through with this shit.
“No,” I said calmly, still gripping the knife I’d been holding for what felt like hours now in my hand. “I’ll sleep in the barn even though it’s freezing cold tonight but you will not put me in the box. Not ever again!”
“You little whore!” she screamed at me, completely losing it. “You tempted my husband and now he’s hurt! And it’s all your fault!”
“So you’re blaming me because Gary wanted to rape me?” I demanded. “Do you even hear yourself?”
She pointed a trembling finger at the dark corner of the basement where the box was kept.
“Get in right now or there are going to be severe consequences, young lady! I’ll call CPS tomorrow and tell them all about you!”
“What are you going to tell them?” I asked. “That I refused to let your husband rape me? That Nick protected me when he tried it? That you starved us and locked us away and spent all the money CPS gave you to feed and clothe us on yourself? What, Nancy? What exactly are you going to say?”
She just stood there gaping at me, her mouth opening and shutting like a fish as though she couldn’t quite gather her thoughts. Finally she said,