Chapter 15 #2
“In the beginning, yeah. But after a while, they didn’t have to.
It was the only life I knew. The point is, I didn’t have a choice.
My father acted like I did. Anyone who refused to fight was killed by their opponent.
It was survival. My mother was a sweet woman, but…
she cares more about her husband than she does her son.
That’s the story, kid. That’s why I’m always checking the windows.
That’s why I don’t like to dredge up the past and share my feelings.
” He popped the door open and got out. “Everyone load up on snacks and take a piss while you can.”
Since we hadn’t stretched our legs in hours, we took our sweet time shopping in the convenience store. Before Cleo used the bathroom, I poked my head inside to make sure no pervy little man was hiding out in a stall. Then I guarded the door until she was done.
After purchasing snacks, I hung out in front of the Chevy and soaked in my daily vitamin D while waiting for everyone.
“I’m still reeling over the car conversation,” Darcy remarked. “That’s the saddest story ever told!”
“Which one?” I bit into my ice cream sandwich.
“All of them! But especially Krys’s. Kidnapped at eleven by Vampires and thrown into a fighting ring? That’s… unimaginable! And on top of that, his parents rejected him.”
I remembered the jokes we’d cracked about his obsession with checking locks. What we thought was a mild case of OCD was Krys protecting us. His late-night patrols only increased after the babies were born.
“This isn’t working out,” I told her. “You talk too much, and I can’t concentrate. Sit in the back and stay quiet. And by the back, I mean the back.”
“With the luggage?” She gripped her overall straps like a petulant child about to throw a tantrum. Her pinwheel-colored eyes finally lowered. “Fine. But not for the whole trip.” Darcy flounced off to the back of the vehicle, and I felt a twinge of guilt.
Then I had to remind myself she wasn’t real. Just an echo of a life that once was, who—for whatever reason—chose to reject what the fates had planned. Walking the earth was her punishment, so I couldn’t get attached. They always grew bitter and hateful if they weren’t already.
Krys finally emerged from the store. After tossing his sack through the open window, he returned to the sidewalk and joined me.
I ran my tongue along the edge of the ice cream sandwich and then offered it to him. “Want a lick?”
To my surprise, he bent down and took a large bite out of it.
“Someone needs to teach you patience,” I quipped.
He wiped his mouth. “I don’t have time for patience. What did you get?”
I handed him my bag.
Krys peered inside and frowned. “That’s a lot of sugar.”
“What did you get?”
“My sunglasses are bothering my nose, so I bought another pair. I also got jerky, those energy drinks, and a bag of nuts. They were out of those cheese crackers with the peanut butter.”
“I noticed.”
He chuckled. “I figured you would.” Krys set my bag inside the vehicle before rejoining me. “I didn’t know all that stuff about your dad and getting kicked out of a pack. I mean, you dropped hints about your dad being an ass, but I didn’t know the full story.”
I bit through the soft cookie exterior of the ice cream and was immediately disappointed that it was stale. “We’re the forsaken. Well, Cleo isn’t anymore. Lucky kid.”
Without warning, Krys put his strong arms around me and squeezed tight. “I’m real fucking sorry about what happened to you.”
His hug was fierce, and when he squeezed me tighter, I felt safe. It meant everything, coming from him especially. My eyes watered before he finally let go.
“Shit, sorry,” he said, looking at the smashed ice cream between us that stained our shirts. “I’ll buy you another one.”
“Don’t bother.” I tossed it into a trash can. “It was as old as my Nirvana ticket stub.”
Wiping off his shirt, he stared off in an awkward silence. “I didn’t bother to check if we have a spare tire in the trunk. Do you think we have anything back there?”
“Oh, I’m positive we have something back there,” I said, thinking of our uninvited ghost passenger.
A sound from the main road snagged our attention. It sounded like a cicada or a rattlesnake, but it was actually a sprinkler watering the grass that bordered the gas station.
My inner wolf started wagging his tail, and a smile crept up my face.
“Virgil,” Krys said in a warning tone. “Don’t you do it. Don’t even think about it.”
I turned on my heel and hurried to the side of the building where no one could see me.
“Virgil!” He glared at me from around the wall.
“But I’ve been such a good boy!” Unable to keep my animal suppressed, I gave in and did a running leap into the air. My clothes twisted away from my body as I ran full throttle toward the sprinklers.
Since I shared consciousness with my animal, I could keep an eye on traffic and make sure we weren’t in any danger. As soon as he hit the spray of water, he rolled onto his back and pushed himself along the grass.
I heard Krys shouting profanities, but my wolf was too busy enjoying the cool water sprinkling onto his face and belly.
He jumped to his feet, shook his dense coat, and raced back and forth through the sprinklers while cars honked.
At a distance, my white animal was often mistaken for a dog.
Huskies weren’t as large as me, but some people assumed I was a mixed Breed.
After twirling in a circle, I barked at Krys and shot past him toward the store. When the doors opened and someone stepped out, I whooshed inside and knocked over a display of potato chips. My wolf sniffed the floor enthusiastically and startled a customer at the counter.
“Whose dog is that?” the cashier shouted. “No pets in the store!”
Panting and buzzing with energy, my curious wolf investigated the snacks and chomped into a bag of spicy chips before sneezing.
Then he picked up a familiar scent and followed its trail.
Although I could experience the world through his eyes, my wolf was in total control.
I couldn’t manipulate his actions, but I could give him a nudge and hope he listened.
Cleo was standing at one of the drink fountains with a big cup. As soon as my wolf spotted her, he barked and chased his tail.
“Taz!” She squatted and waved me over. That was the name she sometimes called my wolf, whereas everyone else called me Taz.
My wolf jumped into her arms, and she could hardly pet him for how hyper he was. But it made her laugh, and making Cleo laugh was all he wanted. He chomped on the cup before jumping against the drink counter and dancing on his hind legs.
“I can’t decide if I want a plain soda or the frozen drink. What do you think?”
The second one was better, so I told my wolf to bark twice.
“Get that dog out of here!” the employee shouted.
A trucker pushed the door on his way out. “Doesn’t look like a dog to me.”
When my animal smelled hot dogs, he whirled around and searched for the delicious meat. I tried distracting him, but his attention was zeroed in on the food. He jumped onto his hind legs to watch the savory links spinning on metal rollers.
“Not the hot dogs!” Krys yelled.
But it was too late. He leaned in to snatch one and burned his tongue on the metal. I felt it too, only not as distinctly. He yelped and scurried to a refrigerated section with sandwiches. After sniffing the different wrapped treats, he pilfered one.
“Is that thing yours?” the cashier grumped. “You’re paying for it.”
Krys walked toward me, his arms wide. “Drop the sandwich.”
Grrr.
“I mean it, Virgil. Drop it.”
But he didn’t drop it. My wolf gobbled up that turkey sandwich, paper wrapper and all.
“Fucking hell.” Krys laughed while handing a few bills to the cashier. “I’ll pay for it.”
My wolf sprinted toward Krys and jumped against him. Krys anchored himself to keep from falling and pulled a piece of the paper wrapper out of my mouth. “You’re a fucking disaster. You know that?”
My wolf barked. What he really wanted right now was belly rubs and a treat, and I had a feeling neither were in our future.
Cleo joined us with her icy drink. “This is too sweet. I don’t like it.”
Krys snorted. “Why did you get the biggest damn cup they have?”
She shrugged. When a mischievous look twinkled in her eye, she squatted and held out the cup. “Want some?”
“Don’t give that to him.”
Too late.
Slurpee! Yummy! Mine! Mine!
My wolf lapped up the sweet cherry drink until it froze his throat. An excruciating pain radiated at the back of his throat and inside his head. He coughed to make it go away, but it didn’t stop.
“See what you did?” Krys said. “He’ll throw up in the car.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, my wolf hacked up the drink and sandwich.
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Cleo said on a laugh. She snapped her fingers. “Come on, weirdo. Let’s go.”
My wolf trotted coolly past her, and when he reached the doors, he grabbed all the beef jerky he could bite onto.
“Is that for me?” Krys asked.
My wolf groaned as our thoughts fused.
Krys likes jerky. Make him happy. Jerky! More Jerky!
Krys handed Cleo a fifty. “Give this to the clerk.”
“Fifty bucks? That’s a lot!”
“Meat isn’t cheap.”
She frowned at me. “Then make him put it back.”
Krys eyed my wolf, who was drooling all over the meat sticks, some of which his fangs had punctured through. “That ship has sailed. Let’s go before he discovers the nacho station.”