The Frenzy Series (Book 2): Frantic (7 page)

That, I agreed with. Mother had lost her mind. It began even before Mercedes fell, but when Mercedes never came home, a piece of my Mother’s mind went with her. And now Porschia had changed. To Mother, she was as gone as Mercedes was. But why had she been feeding, or even communicating, with Mercedes?

I climbed the steps, my legs heavy from seeing my sister in such a state. Sleep sounded like the best option.

I heard Father trying to calm Mother down from behind their closed and locked bedroom door. “She’s one of them!” Mother ranted. “Porschia. She killed Mercedes, and now she’s one of the blood sucking night-walkers. She’ll eat us all!”

Mother chanted the words, “eat us all,” over and over and over again.

I leaned my head and shoulders against the wall and stared up at the textured, swirled ceiling plaster, wishing that someone could help Mother; wishing someone could keep her quiet. Father wasn’t able to, and sooner or later someone was bound to hear her. We had neighbors just a yard away and across the street, but for once I felt lucky that we weren’t close with anyone in town. Father always said there was too much work to do to have friends of any kind, and that we needed to keep our noses in our own business. I just hoped the neighbors felt the same way.

I tossed and turned all night. Mother didn’t calm down until it was almost dawn, and then only because she’d worn herself out. From her room came the sounds of sobbing and screams, glass breaking against the wall and more screaming. She begged to leave her room, crying and pleading. Again and again, Father would try to talk to her like she would finally be able to understand his words. The man was part saint, or at the very least, as patient as one. I would have locked her up and walked away.

Dressing quickly, I pulled on my boots, tugged on my coat, and set off toward Saul’s. It was dark and so cold I could see my breath, but I needed to talk to him. Porschia’s precarious safety hinged on his ability to tell an old lady a lie.

Some people had tells. For Mercedes, it was a crinkling of her nose. Porschia worried her hands. Father stuttered. Mother didn’t lie. She was unflinchingly honest, but sometimes that was a bad thing. Sometimes people needed to hear that they looked good, that their garden looked healthy or that everyone was fine. However, Mother wouldn’t give anyone an inkling of kindness. She enjoyed making people miserable and used honesty as her weapon. Because sometimes, honesty was brutal.

Saul’s house was several streets over, beyond Town Hall and close to the river. I saw movement in the window to the left of the front door and tapped lightly on it. Saul’s mom answered the door.

“Sorry to bother you so early, ma’am, but I need to speak with Saul if he’s awake.”

His mother was pretty, with crinkles fanning out from her eyes like she laughed a lot. “I’ll get him. Do you want to come in from the cold?” She was already dressed for the day, but sleep still made her voice deeper than normal.

“Nah. I’ll wait here, but thanks.”

“He’ll be right down.” She eased the door closed but left a crack, the warmth from inside escaping out just enough to warm me. She was kind. She didn’t scream or insult. She didn’t scowl or criticize. Saul appeared a moment later, just as she’d promised.

His hair was matted on one side, but he was dressed. He pulled on his coat and stepped outside, folding his hands and blowing into them. “It’s freezing.”

“Well below it.”

“Is she okay?”

“We both know she’s not.” I looked toward the pavilion, where this god-awful mess got started, first with Mercedes and then with Porschia. “She needs a favor.”

“Name it.”

“I’ve been helping Mrs. Dillinger, but she is starting to ask questions. Porschia hasn’t been there to do some of the things, but even when she was, I used to help bring water and wood. She knows Porschia and Mother were on the outs, so she knows Porschia isn’t staying back at home. Now she’s getting suspicious, asking questions.”

“You want me to tell her?”

“Not about that. Just tell her she’s sick and that your mother is taking care of her.”

Saul blew out a visible cloud of breath that disappeared into the night. “She might not believe me. Mom visits her sometimes. Not often, but what if she did and then Mrs. Dillinger questioned her?”

I swallowed. “I don’t know. I mean, the Elders will eventually find out, but if she can get control of herself by the time they do, maybe they won’t freak out.”

“There’s no guarantee of that. Tensions are already high between them and the night-walkers, but it’s the best plan. I’ll talk to her.” He paused a moment and rocked back on his heels. “I need to talk to my parents first. It’s a risk, but if I ask them not to tell anyone, they won’t.
And
they’ll back up my stories.”

“If you’re sure,” I replied uncertainly. I sure as hell wasn’t sure. What if they ran straight to the Elders?

“You want to come in so you can see their reaction for yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah.” If they were going to be able to keep the lie, I’d be able to tell it. I could at least warn Roman.

Saul crossed the porch and opened the door. “Mom?” He waved me inside right as she reappeared from the kitchen area. “Is Dad up?”

“Yeah. Everything okay?” Her eyes bounced nervously from her son to me.

“No. I need to tell you both something, and I need you to promise that it’ll stay in this house.”

Dad came down the steps at the sound of mom’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Saul needs to speak with us.”

I have never asked to sit down and talk with them, and I’ve never asked them to keep a secret. But for Porschia, I’d do both.

Ford and I sat at the kitchen table and Mom and Dad settled across from us. I steadied myself by rubbing my calloused fingers along the edge of the table. Worn smooth by both time and oiled hands, it grounded me. Ford looked young, too young to hold such a burden. I wasn’t referring to Porschia, although she was definitely part of the equation. I was talking about his mother. She had completely lost it at the river, and I felt sure she wouldn’t regain her wits any time soon.

He lost Mercedes, probably felt like Porschia was gone, and now his mother had mentally checked out. Poor kid.

Dad looked at me expectantly and I cleared my throat. “This can’t leave our house,” I stated.

“Agreed,” Dad said. Mother nodded her assent, and that was all the encouragement I needed.

“Porschia has turned into a night-walker.”

Mom’s gasp filled the room before she clasped her hand over her mouth. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over as I gagged on the tears clogging my own; looking away at the walls, the windows, anything. If I looked at her or Ford, I knew I would lose it.

“Did the night-walkers turn her, son?” Dad asked after a moment.

“No. She was across the river, and—”

“Without the protection of a vampire?” Mom asked, wiping her cheeks. “What was she
thinking
?”

Ford spoke up. “She was trying to save me and our mother.” He paused. “Mother changed after Mercedes fell. She’d always been hateful and angry at the world, but something in her snapped when Mercedes became an Infected. She took it out on Porschia more than anyone, and I know I shouldn’t have let it happen. I found out that Mother had been sneaking to the barn and taking animals. She would slaughter them, wade across the river, and throw them over to Mercedes. I assume she’d been doing it since my sister fell, but I don’t know for sure. I caught her sneaking out of our house in the middle of the night and tried to follow her. One time, I lost her. But the next time, I was able to figure out what she was doing.”

“She became bolder, and even started feeding Mercedes during the daylight. I was trying to stop her on the afternoon Porschia found us. I’d been digging graves and was thirsty, so I went to the river. She had been muttering all morning about feeding her eldest, so I knew she’d be there at some point, but until then, she’d only approached Mercedes at night. I heard Mother singing and saw two lambs tied up on the branch of an old fallen stump. That’s when I noticed she had a butcher knife.

“Mercedes came, but I don’t know if Porschia saw her at first. Porsch was entirely focused on Mother, who was covered in lamb’s blood at that point. She made sure I was okay, and then tried to stop Mother from going across the river. She’d never tried to cross the water before, but the river was lower than normal and Mother was strong. She made it across. When I waded in after her, Porschia came after me. Mercedes and Porschia had always gotten along, but for some reason, Mercedes attacked Porschia.”

I cut in to add my side of the story. “I followed Porschia to the river. She yelled at me to help her mother, so I dragged Mrs. Grant back across the water and went back for Ford. Mercedes and Porschia were fighting by that point, and I saw Mercedes bite Porschia on the leg. I knew I couldn’t get to her, so I yelled at her to use her ring. My only thought was that I didn’t want her to become infected. Luckily, she was able to get the blood from the ring into her mouth in time. She turned.”

Father steepled his fingers while my mother swiped tears away. “You could have been infected, Saul,” she cried.

I shook my head. “Porschia told me to get Ford. She kept me safe.” And that killed me. I should have protected her first. Their mother didn’t deserve to be saved first. She had created the whole damn mess in the first place.

Father took in a deep breath. “We won’t tell the Elders, but you know they’re going to find out, Saul. I know how you feel about her, but when they learn that she’s changed, they’ll order the night-walkers to kill her. Have you seen her? Is she in Frenzy?”

Ford and I nodded affirmatively. The left side of my neck still throbbed with the memory of her feeding from me. Part of her was damn near feral at this point. And the other part? It was like she hadn’t changed at all. Porschia, my Porschia was still in there.

“There is a night-walker in the Colony who is relatively new, who just came out of Frenzy. He’s promised to help her learn to control herself.”

Father’s kind gray eyes bored into mine. “I hope he can, son. I hope he can.”

“I have to tell Mrs. Dillinger something, and I was hoping I could tell her that Porschia is ill and staying with us for the time being. It might buy her some time.”

“Of course you can,” Mom said. “We will stand behind you one hundred percent, Saul. But if she puts you in danger, I will kill her myself.”