The Darkness We Hide

MICHELLE

Michelle ransacked the room, desperate to find her purse, or at the very least her keys. Her mind was running in thirty different directions at once and she couldn’t, for the life of her, remember where she’d left them.

In a sudden moment of clarity she recalled leaving her keys sitting on a small table by the front door when she retrieved her sunglasses yesterday.

Was it just yesterday that she and Gareth had walked to the pond, had made love in the forest?

The thought of him touching her sent her running back to the bathroom dry-heaving bile into the toilet.

What about the baby she carried? Would it be a monster like its father? Unable to even face the possibility of such a thing, Michelle pushed it to the back of her mind. She’d deal with that when she was far from here, safe from both Gareth and Richard.

Carrying her shoes, she sneaked as quietly as possible down the stairs in her socks, praying that she would make it out the door without anyone noticing she was leaving.

Her heart leapt when she saw the familiar cracked leather of her only purse, and next to it her keys. Carefully she lifted them and tucked them into her jacket hoping to muffle any sounds they might make.

Praying solemnly to whatever god was out there, she slowly opened the front door afraid that at any moment someone would come around the corner and stop her.

Finally it was open wide enough for her to slip through. Without looking back, she ran to her car. She turned the ignition, again hoping no one would notice, but ready to slam her foot on the gas pedal at the first hint of anyone stepping out the door.

It took everything not to speed away right then and there, but she knew that sneaking away would give her more time and distance before they noticed she was gone than if she announced her escape by revving her engine.

Slipping the little Volkswagen into drive it began to roll slowly down the drive away from the nightmare her life had turned into.

With no destination in mind aside from ‘away’, she waited until she was sure she was far enough away from the house that no one would hear before she finally let her foot touch the gas.

Reaching the main road, she paused, unsure of which way to go. If she turned right the road would take her south towards the ferry, but if she had to wait for any length of time Gareth could catch up to her there. If she turned left the road would take her north towards the bridge that connected Bainbridge to the Olympic Peninsula. From there she could drive to at least three different ferry points and get back across the Sound that way, or she could just drive all the way back but that would take her all the way south to Tacoma before she could circle back north to Seattle.

She sat with her head on the steering wheel trying to figure out where to go. She realized she couldn’t even go home because Gareth would just go there if he didn’t find her at the dock. She had no close friends to call, she was alone. With a sign, she decided to drive north and just figure out what to do when she needed gas.

Stepping on the accelerator, she pulled into the intersection never seeing the car that sped out of the tree line and smashed into her, sending her car rolling over and over into a ditch. The pain was intense, metal bending, glass shattering, bones snapping. Her world tumbling and turning.

Through a veil of pain and blood, she heard someone or something prying the door to her car open. Then hands were reaching for her, cutting her seat belt, grabbing her broken arm. She cried out at the searing pain, blackness dancing in the corners of her eyes.

Readjusting their grip, the hands lifted her out, cradling her broken body, less than gently, to their own. She could hear someone telling her how sorry he was that things had come to this.

“He should have let me have you last night,” the voice said. “I wouldn’t have had to hurt you like this if he would have stayed out of it.”

As her vision cleared, Michelle realized it was Richard.

“No,” she moaned. “Oh no, please no. I just want to get away!”

Gently he laid her down on the backseat of his car, wrapping a blanket around her.

“Hush love,” he whispered, brushing her hair out of her face, planting a kiss on her bloody forehead. “I’ll take care of you.”

Soon, the car was moving at high speeds, each bump and turn sending searing waves of pain through Michelle’s damaged body. Hearing her cries and whimpers of pain Richard tried to shush her, but when that didn’t work he pulled over. Taking a syringe out of his pocket, he injected Michelle with something that burned down her arm then caused her to pass out.

GARETH

Gareth had decided to give Michelle time to come to terms with everything, but after two hours he began to worry that she might try to harm herself. He searched the upper levels, the lower levels, and the yard, but she was nowhere to be found.

Using his enhanced sense of smell, he followed her scent to the front door, finding it open. Looking at the driveway, he saw that her car was gone. Cursing, he went back inside and tried calling her phone, but got no answer.

“Give her time,” Nancy said soothing, gripping Gareth gently on the shoulder. “Speaking from experience, I know how she feels love. It’s not an easy thing to come to grips with. The idea of ‘lycan’, of loving one, becoming one, it’s a lot to take in. She cares for you, don’t doubt that, but that may not be enough.”

Nodding his head in acceptance and resignation, Gareth sat and waited. After three more hours without a word from Michelle and her phone continuing to go to voicemail, he couldn’t take it anymore. Grabbing his keys and jacket, he called, “Nancy, I’m going after her! I can’t take this!”

“Gareth,” she called. “Be careful! She may not be ready to see you yet.”

“I know,” he replied. “I just need to make sure she’s safe. As long as she’s okay, I won’t even approach her.”

Driving at breakneck speed, Gareth was so worried he nearly missed a curve in the road and wrecked. He should have realized she was going to leave, he should have done something.

‘Dammit!’ he thought as he sped down the road. He’d been so focused on himself and what he would do if she said ‘no’ and the fact that she was carrying his pup, that he had missed the sounds of her leaving. Coming to a stop sign, he was trying to decide which direction Michelle would most likely have taken when he caught a scent on the air.

Getting out of his car, he inhaled deeper, taking in everything around him. It was a scent he knew.

“Richard,” he snarled, his teeth elongating in rage.

Looking around, Gareth noticed the remains of a car accident. Getting on all fours, he found the scent of burned rubber, motor oil and over all of it was Richard. He followed the scent finding Michelle's car laying on its side pushed into the treeline on the other side of the road.

Searching, he found glass from the driver’s side window with Michelle’s blood on it, the seat belt had been cut and he could see that she hadn’t struggled with Richard when she was taken. Was she dead or just unconscious?

Howling with rage, Gareth shifted fully to wolf form and tried to follow Richard’s trail, but Richard knew how to hide his tracks and he soon lost the scent. Unable to find any evidence of what had happened, Gareth returned to his car and sped back to the house, imagining the things Richard could be doing to her.

There was a full moon for the next two nights, but surely Richard wouldn't let the wolf harm her. Was he fool enough to attempt changing Michelle without help? She hadn’t been through any training, she wouldn’t know how to process what was happening to her. As he came screeching into the drive, Nancy ran out, sensing something was wrong.

“Nancy!” Gareth cried as he got out of his car. “Nancy, he grabbed her!! Dammit, he took her!!!”

“Who?” Nancy asked, running to his side.

“Richard! He hit her with his car and took her!!” Collapsing on the gravel, he buried his head in his hands. “Why would he use a car? Didn’t he know he could have killed her?”

“Gareth!!” Nancy yelled, grabbing him by the arms. “Pull yourself together! Richard took her… where would he take her?”

“I don’t know,” he yelled.

“We’ve got to do something,” she said.