The Way Home (15 page)

Chapter Fourteen.

It was too dark in the woods to see much and eerily silent, there were no little animals scurrying around in the underbrush. Houdini figured they'd realized trouble was coming, or The Hunters had been picking off anything that moved. When they'd first started out, there had been several gunshots, but for the last half hour or so, nothing.

Houdini didn't like the nothing or the near darkness; without the advanced eye sight of his traveling companions, Deacon and Shepard, he couldn't tell where he was going. The guard that they kidnapped had been more than willing to talk; he'd actually pissed himself before Houdini could so much as give him a few encouraging smacks.

He was frustrated, starting to wonder if the kid had lied to them after all, when the sound of a shot shattered the silence. Immediately Houdini knew, just knew, that it had something to do with Susan. Without waiting to see if his friends followed, he took off towards the direction the sound had come from, or at least the direction he thought that it had come from.

He'd never run so fast or hard. There was a break in the trees; the light from the moon unobstructed and bright, allowed him to see Susan face down on the ground. Houdini thought he might have called out for her, or maybe he just screamed, he wasn't sure how he made it to her side, but he was there, on his knees. “Susan,” he wanted to roll her on her back, but the arrow embedded in her shoulder made that impossible. “Come on, Susan.” His fingers found the pulse point on her neck. “Thank you,” he felt relief as he felt her pulse beating. It was weak but it was there. “Susan.” As gently as he could, Houdini rolled her on her side. The arrow tip hadn't come all the way through. “Fuck.”

He didn't know why she wasn't opening her eyes, but just at a glance he realized that there was more than just the arrow to worry about. She was skinny, too skinny, with bruises just about everywhere. Houdini screamed.

Deacon and Shepard came up behind him. “We've got to get her out of here, now. She needs a doctor and we don't have a doctor because she's the fucking doctor.” He couldn't be losing her again, it was not possible. Fate couldn't be that cruel.

“What about him?” Shepard questioned.

“Him, who?” Houdini looked up from Susan and over to where Rick was laid out on the ground. “Motherfucker. Is he tied up? What the fuck?”

“Most likely the person who shot him tied him up,” Shepard knelt down next to the man, peered at the wound on his leg. “Must have hit him in the head or something, knocked him out, because the wound wouldn't have.”

“I've got her,” Deacon knelt down, placed his hand on Susan's side to keep her in position. “Go and handle him.”

“No, not here. He's already wrapped up like Christmas, let's get him somewhere where we can make him talk. Going to need him to name names, so that we can be sure we take all of The Hunters down.” Houdini didn't know how it was possible he was rational, but he was. It was a moment of extreme clarity, they needed to get the information before he could take his well-deserved revenge on the man on the ground. But first things first, getting Susan safe and the information that they needed. “We need to get her out of here. Now. Her pulse is getting weaker.”

“She needs to change,” Shepard told him. “She'll heal if she changes, it will be instant.”

“She's not awake, Shepard. How can she change?” Houdini demanded.

“We need to wake her. Houdini, you've got to remember that this is for the greater good.” Shepard rose to his feet, walked to them and knelt down.

“What is?” Houdini realized an instant too late what Shepard was about to do. Susan's body bucked as he pressed his hand down next to the arrow, hard. “I'm going to kill you.”

“This is necessary. She needs to change or she could die, look at her.”

Houdini looked down at Susan, sighed and nodded. “Fine, but if it has to be done, I'll be the one doing it.”

“Get on with it, then.”

Houdini exhaled a deep breath, wrenched the arrow lightly. Susan cried out this time, her eyes opening. They were wide, frightened and he didn't even think that she saw him. “You need to shift, Susan. Shift so you can heal. Come on, Susan. Focus and shift.”

“SHIFT!” Shepard shouted the words and yanked on the arrow. Susan jumped up to her feet, a  expression of fear on her face. Houdini could only watch, transfixed, as the air around her began to shimmer. He felt a rush of something and kept his eyes on hers. He still wasn't sure that she saw him; there was no recognition or relief on her face.

How much had happened to her? Had it broken her? Houdini went to step forward, but Shepard grabbed his arm. “Give her a moment.”

“I'm going to give you the beating of your lifetime for hurting her like that.”

“I suspected as much but it was worth it. Just watch. Give her some space. It takes some time to adjust after.” Shepard patted him on the back. “Let me know when you want to go a few rounds once this is all over.”

Houdini just nodded, eyes locked on Susan as the woman he loved disappeared. A beautiful black bear emerged in her place. As different as she looked, her eyes were the same. He didn't know how, but he knew that she saw him then. She reared back on her hind legs.

“Don't run.” Deacon spoke from next to him. “If you run, she could chase you.”

“I'm not running.” Houdini took a step forward. He wasn't scared of the bear, of Susan, because he knew that it was her. She recognized him. He knew it as he took another step forward. Both Shepard and Deacon spoke up, cautioning him not to get too close, but he didn't listen to them. She towered over him, still up on her legs. “I missed you.” Houdini wasn't sure exactly how much she could hear or understand but he wanted to try. “I love you, Susan.”

The bear dropped down to all four legs once more and he took it to mean that she understood him. Houdini took another step forward, extended his hand to touch the shiny black fur. Before his hand could connect, the bear turned and, with speed he hadn't realized possible, took off running for the trees.

“Susan!” He called after her, prepared to follow, but Deacon grabbed his arm. “Get off of me.”

“Give her a little time,” Deacon suggested, voice low and calm. “We don't know what she's been through, but I can tell you, a run will make it better. Besides, while she runs, you can deal with that piece of shit.”

“We're taking him back with us.”

“That's not a good idea, Houdini.” Shepard chimed in as well.

“That fucker is not dying quick or easy, and we need whatever he knows.”

“We'll get it out here. You'll get it out here.” Deacon's tone had changed, it was slight but Houdini knew what it meant. This was his President tone, the one that said he was laying down the law, and Houdini's input wasn't going to be necessary.

“With what? One knife? What information are we going to get from him out here? Tell me?”

“Just got a text from Mason, they found the base of operations and it's a treasure trove.” Deacon smiled. “There's no reason in the world that fucker should still be breathing.”

Houdini let it sink in for a moment. This was what he'd been waiting for since the day that Susan disappeared, and now it was here. She was here, even if she wasn't next to him, she was alive. He wasn't sure that she was well, which only fueled the anger festering inside of him.

He turned to Rick, who had apparently regained consciousness and decided escape was his best option. It was almost comical the way he was attempting to move across the ground like a worm. Actually, a worm was a fitting comparison, though it was a little insulting to the worms. Houdini crossed over to him. “Hello, Rick.”

“I shot her. She's out there dead somewhere. Do what you want to me, but I win.” Rick said the words as menacingly as possible from a man bound by the wrists and ankles.

Houdini reached down to his belt, drew the knife from its sheath and crouched down next to Rick. He let him see the blade, how sharp the tip was with the serrated edges closer to the hilt. “You didn't win shit. Susan's alive.”

“Then where is she?”

“She shifted. She healed. She's going to be just fine. You, on the other hand, aren't. You're going to feel every inch of this blade as many times as I can manage before you finally bleed to death. It'll take a while. When I'm done, I'm going to leave you here and let the animals sort you out.”

Houdini watched as fear settled into Rick's eyes. He recognized it like a predator would. For a moment, he was taken back to the last time he'd felt that on the day he'd slit the throat of the first man who'd had a hand in the death of his wife and child.

“I can tell you things. Things that aren't in anything you're going to find at our camp.”

“I'm sure you can. Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Just like we figured out who you were and found you.” Houdini adjusted his grip on the knife. “Did you really think you'd get away with it?”

“Animals have been hunted since the dawn of time. That's all they are, underneath it all they're just creatures. Beasts that we can break to our will. I'm not too concerned that Susan's still alive, Houdini. She'll never be the same. She's broken beyond repair.”

Houdini struck out with the knife; the blade sliced across Rick's chest, leaving a trail of blood behind. He studied the blood on the blade, tried to put a name to what he felt when he saw it but couldn't. This was like nothing else, not even like avenging Willow and Junior. A wave of sadness rolled over him, unexpected and banished as quickly as it appeared. Now wasn't the time for reflection, it was time to kill.

Rick screamed, sooner and louder than Houdini expected, but that didn't matter. Houdini took his time, slicing the knife over Rick's arms, down his legs. The screams turned into whimpers, the sound of a scared animal, and Houdini kept on.

By the time that he stopped, his arms were tired. It was an effort to get to his feet and he was completely covered in blood. Houdini looked at Deacon and Shepard, realizing what they'd just seen him do. He waited to find judgment on their faces, but there was none.

“Come on, Brother.” Deacon stepped forward. “Mason says they've got full facilities there. Let's get you cleaned up. Susan doesn't need to see you like this.”

<#<#<#<#<#

“What if something happened to her?” Houdini demanded of Vera. “She should have been back by now, right?”

“I don't know, Houdini. Really, I don't.” Vera looked up from the papers in front of her, rubbed her hands over her eyes. “I'm sure that she just needed time. Let's see what they've got for food around here. I'm starving.”

“You could take these papers and go home,” he pointed out. “So that you can get some rest and some real food. Baking a kid is hard work, takes a lot out of you.”

“Who died and made you an expert?” She snapped, eyes flaring with anger. “Shit, I'm doing it again. Sorry, it's the hormones. It's like I'm on a roller coaster, and I've got to puke.”

“It's alright.” Houdini took a deep breath. “I had a wife. We had a kid.” He knew that Vera would pick up his use of past tense and hoped that she wouldn't ask too many questions.

“Oh.” She pressed her hands to her mouth. Tears glistened in her eyes but she blinked them back.

“I know,” he reached out and squeezed her hand. “I think that you should lie down a bit, take a nap. I'm going to head back out.” He'd left the house several times since he'd woken up at dawn and returned each time without any idea where Susan was.

Houdini grabbed the backpack he'd filled with anything he could think of that Susan could need and headed out of the RV Rick had been using. The woods were full of people cleaning up what they could and looking for other clues, trying to figure out just how many had died. While Houdini, Deacon and Shepard had been dealing with Susan and then Rick, everyone else had been dealing with the remaining Hunters and the families who'd come along for the ride. It had been a nightmare when they returned, full of screaming kids and crying women.

They'd had to revise their initial plan on the fly, letting most of The Hunters leave, but not before they got their names and addresses. If another hunt ever happened, it was made clear that they would pay the price.

Houdini headed into the woods, almost sure that this time would be like the last and he'd return without Susan. He kept coming back to the moment when she'd shifted, to the look in her eyes when he'd said he loved her. At first, he'd thought that she'd run away because it had been so long since she'd had a run, but now he was starting to wonder if she'd run because of him and what he said. It wasn't long before Rick's words were rolling around in his mind as well, saying how broken Susan was and that she'd never be the same. What if he was right? What if she'd changed so much she had just left?

Houdini continued to move through the woods even as the sky grew darker. He felt the first drops of rain a few seconds after he noticed the sky. In an instant it went from one or two drops to water just pouring out of the sky. “Are you kidding me?” The trees would provide some cover, but it didn't really matter; he was soaked.

He began to laugh. What else could he do? Shake his fist at the sky? Curse God? Curse fate? None of those things would get him any further than the laughter would. Something inside of him was close to snapping, and he really didn't care. It was the way he'd felt after he'd avenged Willow and Junior, like nothing mattered if Susan was gone by her own choice.