Chapter 3 #2
That had worried Salem for some time. He had assumed responsibility in overseeing her recovery.
In the early days, when she was refusing to eat, he slipped ground-up vitamins into her vanilla milkshakes.
That eventually changed her bloodwork to acceptable levels, and she started eating more.
But a girl her age should have a healthier appetite.
She wasn’t underweight anymore, but it would ease his mind to see her asking for seconds or even snacking on a giant bag of chips.
Mercy disappeared around the corner and returned with a tray. “I was on my way to her room with dinner.”
“I’ll go with you,” Salem offered.
They headed upstairs and crossed through the central hallway. The bedrooms and bathrooms were located off the shorter halls—three on the left and two on the right. When they arrived at the last hall on the right, they stopped at the door across from Virgil’s purple one and knocked.
Mercy opened the door and stood at the entrance.
“Krys is out tonight, sweetie. I’ve got your dinner, and you’re gonna love it.
We didn’t have any leftover fish soup from yesterday, so Bear made a fresh pot just for you.
” Something about Mercy’s country accent put people right at ease. “Your hair looks real purty tonight.”
That made Cleo run her fingers through her tousled locks. Her black hair had grown out a little since they first brought her home, enough to shield her eyes sometimes and cover her ears, but she hadn’t grown it longer.
Mercy set the tray on the desk by the door. That’s where Cleo ate her meals, drew pictures, and worked on small art projects. “You wanna come downstairs and eat? Everyone’s cleared out of the dining room, so you’ll have it all to yourself. I can sit with you if you want a little company.”
“That’s okay,” Cleo said, watching Mercy from the bed.
Mercy gestured to the wall behind the headboard. The white clouds painted across a blue sky added color and serenity. “Did I ever tell you I painted that wall? Did it all with a Q-tip. Can’t make it up.”
Her joke made Cleo laugh quietly.
Mercy faced the large television on the wall opposite the bed.
“This place needs more color. What do you think? I could paint all the walls in here. Whatever you want on them. You could be my assistant. Painting isn’t impossible.
If you make a mistake, you just paint right over it.
Plus it’s loads of fun. We could make a forest with cats and birds and rabbits. ”
“Maybe.”
“No maybes about it,” Mercy said, working her magic by forming a connection.
She had been building trust between them, often coming up to paint her nails and share magazines.
Mercy brushed her hand over Cleo’s messy black hair.
While it was tapered at her nape, the wavy locks weren’t styled, and the ends were uneven.
“I know what it’s like to have a memory wipe.
It’s hard. Sometimes you don’t know who you’re supposed to be.
But it gets better. Once I stopped holding on to who I used to be, I could focus on who I wanted to be.
You start learning to live in the moment.
Just remember: If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.
I may suck all the air out of the room sometimes, but I know how to listen. ”
“Thanks.”
“If you’ve got the energy, we could walk to the bookstore tomorrow. Or you could ride on the back of my scooter. Did I ever tell you her name is Daisy?”
“I go out at night.”
“I hope not!” Mercy put her hands on her hips. “Not alone anyhow. You need fresh air and sunshine. Lord have mercy, if you stay in here too much, you’ll turn into a Vampire. Or Lucian.”
That made Cleo giggle.
“You better eat up while it’s hot. Oh, and if you wanna come down later on, Cici added new books to the library. Lots of history books, fantasy novels, and a giant atlas that could knock a man silly. There’s also a few on Greek mythology, but I don’t know if you like that kind of stuff.”
Salem inclined his head at Mercy before she left the room.
Cleo stood up, and Salem took in her hoodie, long shorts, and long purple socks that were bunched up at the ankles.
She wore hoodies all the time, and Melody had even designed some with cat ears on them.
Cleo also wore headbands with cat ears. Salem had never spent much time around kids outside of those who wound up in the ER when he used to work at a human hospital, but they seemed to have their own unique sense of style.
Salem set the box by her food. “The headphones are from Atticus. Lucian can help you set them up if you can’t figure it out. He’s good with electronics.”
She touched the box and looked at the picture on the side. “Cool.”
Leaning against the doorjamb, he watched her slurp the soup. Like him, she was quiet, but he was uncertain if that was her true personality or a trauma response from being in captivity. “Any nightmares lately?”
“No, Doc.”
“That’s good, Cleo. This town has Relics, but we lack anyone with therapy skills. There’s no physical reason I can see for why you aren’t eating enough. I’ve noticed when food is brought in, you smack your lips.”
She stopped eating and stared at her spoon.
“That implies your salivary glands are doing what they’re supposed to when hunger is present. I can also hear your stomach growling. The only reason you’re as healthy as you are is because we add supplements to your food.”
Cleo dropped her spoon in the bowl and sat back, tucking her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and directing her ire at the soup.
“You’re smart.”
She cast her gaze in his direction. “Huh?”
He sighed thoughtfully, surprised he hadn’t figured it out before.
“When you first came here, the Relic said you couldn’t leave until your weight increased and bloodwork came back normal.
You’re barely skating the line even now.
Maybe you don’t really want to leave. Maybe leaving is scarier than staying because you don’t know what’s next. ”
“It might be worse.”
“Than here? Isolated in this room all day and wandering the property at night?”
“No, I mean worse than the lab.”
Salem stepped in and closed the door. He crossed the room and sat in the round papasan chair, having immediate regrets when he sank into it. “I think you feel the way I do sometimes—that people are nice to you because they have to be. A courtesy.”
She twisted in her seat and gripped the back of the chair to face him.
Salem didn’t emotionally express himself to others, and maybe that’s why Cleo wasn’t intimidated by him.
He was predictable and harmless, but a reserved person like him opening up might help her find her own voice.
“I used to work in a lab like the one you came from. It was set up differently, and my team was separated from the patients. Joy was held against her will. I don’t think anyone’s ever told you the story, and if they have, they didn’t share my version. ”
“You’re one of them?” she said with disdain.
“I was. When I found out what they were doing—what we were doing—I freed everyone. Then I found my way here. The thing is, Cleo, the pack accepted me despite my past. Maybe they took me in under false pretenses, but I’ve found a home here.”
“Yeah, but you’re a wolf. You belong here. I don’t know what I am or where I belong.”
“I know you’ve made this room into a safe space, but even a haven can become a cage—one you’ve made for yourself.
If you’re afraid recovering will make it easier for them to let you go, you underestimate this pack.
They don’t want you to recover so they can get rid of you.
They feel like they’re failing you. Failing you because they can’t locate your family.
Failing because you’re not acting like every other teenager.
Failing because every time we gather at the table or laugh during game night, there’s an uncomfortable silence at knowing that you’re up here alone. ”
Cleo turned back around in her seat and resumed eating her soup. “What’s the point of getting attached?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because all we can do is live in the present. The future’s never set in stone.” When Salem tried getting out of the chair, it strained the muscle in his knee, and he winced. “If you ever want a real chair, I’ll chip in. This feels like a torture device.”
She peered at him with an elfin grin. “I like it.”
He rapped his knuckles on the desk before opening the door.
“I’ve never said this because I thought it was obvious, but you need to hear it out loud.
I’m not waiting for you to be in perfect health so I can approve sending you away.
If Tak didn’t want you here, he would’ve placed you with someone else by now.
It’s not contingent on your health. I don’t know how permanent this situation is, but it shouldn’t stop you from living your life.
Get to know everyone here because they’d like to get to know you.
That’s why they invite you places. You can’t reject people before they reject you to avoid getting hurt. ”
She stirred her spoon in the bowl. “I’m a stray. If you guys wanted to keep me, you would’ve asked me by now.”
Kids had a way of cutting through all the bullshit.
He gripped the knob. “They want to know you.”
“I’m a burden. I feel guilty just for existing. And all this stuff they buy me”—she touched the box with the headphones—“only makes it worse. Do I have to give it all back when I leave?”
“No.”
A scratch sounded against the door, and Salem could hear frantic sniffing. When he opened it, Virgil’s white wolf burst into the room. He licked Cleo’s arm excitedly before chasing his tail in circles.
They hadn’t nicknamed him Taz for nothing. That wolf shifted and played like the Tasmanian Devil cartoon—spinning in circles and behaving erratically.
Cleo twisted around in her seat and laughed at his antics.