Blood

“Jesus, Lorna,” says my brother not a moment after I’m through the door. Reid wraps his arms around me and holds me like that for a minute.

He pulls away, looking me up and down, making sure I’m alright. “Where were you?”

In hell, I think.

Instead I answer, “How’s Aunt Jo?”

Reid bites his lip. “She’s hurt pretty bad. They ain’t sure...well,” he glances at the table behind him where Sean and Gram, oddly enough, both sit. “Dad’s with her now.”

I nod. I know I should be worried for her, and for Mattie, but all I can think about is the look of Mallory’s eyes, as black as the night, and Justin Fionn’s body lying in a pool of his own blood.

Mallory Fionn is a faerie.

“Now what happened to you?” Reid asks, but I walk past him to Sean and Gram.

Sean’s playing with a deck of cards, ordering them all around the table, as normal as can be. He loves to play with cards, says he’s building himself a court, like the kind they have in England, and then he’ll put them at war with the French.

Gram on the other hand is not so normal. She’s staring so hard at the table in front of her that I reckon she ain’t even noticed me yet. It’s really odd. I’ve never seen Gram act like this, even when Mam died. She’s always been pretty damn cold.

“Gram?” I ask.

She stares at me and says, “Good Folk! In the church! The home of God! There ain’t nothin’ right about that, Lorna. Nothin’!”

I step back, and glance at Reid. He just makes a face. Gram goes back to her staring, making it look like she’s in a trance.

“It’s okay, Grammy,” says Sean, before he too returns to his court.

I start to wonder, Has Mallory ever been to church?

I don’t think he has.

Reid, from where he’s taken a seat on the third step of the stairs, motions for me to join him, which I do reluctantly.

What am I supposed to tell him?

I sit on the first step of the stairs, since it’s easier than standing, and Reid has a bit of a thing about his height sometimes.

Before Reid can ask me yet again what I was up to, I ask quietly, “Is Sean alright?”

“Uh, he doesn’t really know what’s happened.”

I nod. That’s what I had figured. Really, I’d only asked to try and buy myself some more time. There was no reason for it though since I still have absolutely no idea what I’m going to tell him. All I can think is:

Mallory’s a faerie.

Reid taps his nails against the step above him without any real pattern to it.

“So what happened to you?” he asks.

I went looking for Mallory.

“I…went looking for Justin Fionn,” I say instead.

Reid’s eyes widen. I can tell he struggles to keep his voice down when he replies, “Why would you do something so stupid?”

Don’t pause for too long, I tell myself.

“I wanted to see for myself…to find out. I dunno, I just wanted.”

At least the wanting part was true. Except it definitely hadn’t been Justin Fionn I’d been wanting for.

And see where that wanting got you, Lorna you fool.

My brother seems to believe my lie since he’s shaking his head.

His eyes flash. “And did you?”

I nod. I found out a hell of a lot more from Mallory today than I ever wanted.

“What happened?” Reid asked, noticeably softer. He must see something in my face.

“Justin was…not Justin,” I say.

Reid frowns. “I don’t know what that means.”

I glance at the woodstove. I don’t think Reid remembered to add more wood when he got home since it’s terribly cold. Not that I can really blame him.

“It means that he was possessed,” I whisper. The last thing I need is for Gram to hear me and get on about demons.

Reid has to think about that. “Like a demon?”

I shake my head. “Like one of Them was inside him.”

My brother doesn’t seem to understand.

“Reid, his eyes were all black.”

Realisation dawns across my brother’s face. “How’d you get away?”

It was Mallory I had to worry about.

But was it really? I mean, there was that moment when he was…not himself, but other than that he’s never done anything to hurt me. And they weren’t even his eyes.

Moron! I think.

“Justin is—well, Mallory—” killed his brother and then tried to kill me. “Justin’s dead,” I whisper.

Reid sits back, his eyes wide. “Jesus,” he mutters. “And Mallory—”

“He had to, Reid,” I say. Christ, I’m defending one of the Good Folk.

But he’s only half, I start to think before realising that he could have been lying to me again. Just like I’ve been lying to my brother.

I wonder if Justin even knew what his brother was.

But Reid only nods. “I understand that. I mean, I couldn’t have done it, but I still understand.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then seems to realise, “George is gonna be crushed.”

Even while nodding, I can’t help but think, not if he realised what his best mate had been doing with his wife.

“Are you alright?” Reid asks.

I shrug, since I really have no idea.

There’s still that image of Mallory with a knife and black eyes coming towards me playing over and over in my mind. But I also can’t seem to rid myself of him practically lying on his kitchen floor, crying like a child. Fuck, all I’d wanted to do was hold him, and he’d just tried to kill me.

What the hell is wrong with me?

“Reid?” I ask without looking at him.

“Yeah?”

“Did you love Sarah?”

He doesn’t answer for a moment, but when he does, his tone has curdled like sour milk. “Yeah, I did. Why?”

I just sit there, occasionally glancing at Gram and Sean, but most often staring at the door, thinking.

When I don’t respond, Reid retreats upstairs, maybe so he can think, too.

I want to talk to Mattie, but I know he has to be with his mum, for both their sakes. I want to know if Aunt Jo’s alright. I want to see my dad and make sure he isn’t hurt.

But most of all, I want December to be over.