Wolf Asylum (28 page)

“When did you take over?” Steve asked, sounding more comforting.

“Cornell and I worked together for a year or so. He got into the drugs and ran off. I'm not even sure if he's alive. He trained me and he gave me the taste for it. I continued, following the rules he had taught me. Take only transients, or people that would never be missed. Never take someone you don't think you can handle and never take anyone you know. Never use the money or jewelry you find. Always destroy your clothing and footwear after a session. Burn all identification, clothing and hair and discard the ashes in the river. Bust the teeth from the mouth and dissolve them in soda. I always followed the rules, but the spot itself was always there for someone to find, and no one ever did—at least until Terri caught a whiff of the death.”

“You could have stopped! Why did you keep doing it?”

There was no answer, at least none anyone could understand. Darwin gave the most honest answer he could,

“I enjoyed it.”

As a soulless monster, the truth didn't bother Steve like it might have on Earth. He was more impressed that, for once, they were truthful with each other.

“Where did you get your victims?” Steve asked, attempting to hide his sob.

“They weren't victims, they were participants; we'd find them hitchhiking along the old highway. I know you may be wondering, ‘If I could have killed our tormentors, why didn't I'? I wanted to, you have no idea how badly I wanted to. Rules were rules…I didn't want to get caught, so I stayed with the plan. It was an addiction and I didn't want to stop. That road was perfect. If it looked quiet, I'd roll up in the quad and offer them a lift to the diner. Then I'd tell them there's a shortcut through the woods, and they being the sweet and innocent young boy they never argued. I'd drive into the woods a distance, goof around a bit so they'd end up flying off or something. Sometimes I'd play the mechanical card, depended on my mood. From there I'd knock them out with a rock in a sock. Then I'd begin the procedure.”

“Sounds so cold,” Lynda said.

“No one was missed. If I hadn't seen it in your blood, I would never have believed it,” Steve said turning ghostly white.

“They got me long ago. What happened to me, Marta stabbing me, Zack molesting me and then what you and I went through…it killed me. Being a serial killer was the only way I knew to blow off steam. Whether the underworld protected me or I was just that good, I'll never know,” Darwin finished.

“How many?” Steve asked without finishing the question.

“Usually one a month, except during the summer…no quad available, “Darwin shrugged, “I guess that means I probably killed forty five to fifty people over the years.”

“When I turned you, did you go and kill right away?” Steve asked, needing to know if he had only perfected a mass murderer.

“No, the opposite. I wanted to, but I knew I was at risk of killing people I hated and that would come back to me. I kept my brother's teachings with me at all times. I wasn't sure what would happen when I killed so I avoided it, even though it was the only thing on my mind. I'm sorry; I never wanted you to know this side of me,” Darwin said in truth and warmth.

“So, the other part of the blood was true?” Steve asked with a stream rolling down his red cheek.

Darwin smiled and nodded, “I'm sorry I hit you, I'd never hurt you.”

Steve moved next to Darwin and kissed him, long and passionate. Neither wanted to end the embrace but the danger to Steve still existed. When they released, they knew it was like giving an alcoholic a single drink. It was all it might take to make something beautiful go bad.

“Times really have changed, haven't they?” Lynda asked with her eyes bulging from the sockets.

“Not to sound sadistic. You know about my little secret…I want to know about your first kill?” Darwin asked knowing they had both forgiven each other.

“I went about a hundred miles away to this little backwater, more religious than New Haven. I wasn't sure what to expect. I hadn't changed by the moon although I knew it was coming. I'd tasted you and knew I wanted more and I could feel the beast growing inside of me. The sun had gone down and I found myself in a family restaurant sitting across from this seemingly perfect family that reminded me of mine. They were all dressed up in their nice church clothes, too. They had two children and the son seemed quite effeminate. The father was harsh with his son, snapping at him for talking with a limp wrist. The mother was abused too. She sat with her head down as the father lectured his son about how certain people could go to Hell automatically. I guess it just hit too close to home,” Steve said, clearing his throat.

“That must have been hard to watch. I bet you wanted to rip out the father's throat right there,” Darwin smiled.

“You know it!” He laughed. “The first blast of heat hit me while I was sitting in my booth. I didn't even get to finish my pie. I knew it was starting so I quickly dropped some cash and walked outside. I think my clothes started ripping while I walked past the windows but I made it to the garbage bins and finished my first transformation in private. And there I waited. All of my new senses were working and I knew what I wanted. The family came out and got into their minivan and drove away, but I had their smell and I ran after them. I kept up and I was on their front lawn when then were still spilling out of the van.

“I killed the dad first; I tore his head off and kicked it down the block. Then I turned to the mother and I rammed my fist through her stomach and ate the contents. Once I had done that, the children were next. I killed the daughter first because she just wouldn't stop screaming. The boy was frozen in his seat; he pissed himself too. I stared him down, considered biting him but after a moment I realized the life I would be dooming him to. I snapped his neck and left him whole.”

“How did you know you didn't want to doom the kid to life as a werewolf?” Darwin asked truly confused.

“Not dooming him to lycanthropy; dooming him to a life of being gay,” he admitted.

What could Darwin say to that? He understood fully what that meant. A life of baggage piled up one problem after another; he also understood what that meant for Steve. His first murder had been symbolic. He had killed himself and his family.

“Why didn't you kill you parents sooner?” Darwin asked, needing to know the answer.

“Probably for the same reasons you didn't kill our tormentors. I knew in my heart I'd be a suspect. Besides, I had other ways of quelling my urges. When I did kill them, it started as an accident. I electrocuted my mother in the kitchen during an argument…once I was down that road there was no coming back. I decided to murder my father who was asleep in his bedroom. I used my hands. I slit his throat with my claws and I changed in front of him as his life drained away. It was pretty intense. I killed your mom and her boyfriend as a human too because I didn't want the police writing off the deaths as an animal attack. The idea was to make you a suspect and force you into fleeing with me.” Steve confessed.

“You and I aren't all that different,” Darwin teased. “Fuck we must work on our communication! Starting now,” he stated with honest eyes.

“Agreed,” Steve said, grabbing Darwin's hand and holding on to it. “Promise me you'll never hurt me like that again.”

“How could I? I love you.” He smiled.

“I taught Shawn to open the gate from this side. What I didn't know at the time was being dead in the real world would hinder the process. He snapped back to Hell just as fast as he had left it,” Lynda tried to educate.

“We're willing to try anything Lynda, I'm dead either way, so we may as well try,” Steve begged.

“Sending you two back, honestly I can get Darwin back, I just don't know about Steve. It's in my best interest to get Steve out of here-you know where I live. I'd really rather not move. That's why I never showed Shawn where I lived. As soon as he turns he's be able to lead them to me.” Lynda mused, “I have an idea though that may help. After Shawn came crashing back, I wondered if we could loosen the grip they have. I gave it a lot of thought and the only solution I came up with was mimicking my own aura. See, Darwin is alive and has an aura, even though it's quite tainted and I have one too. But a dead person like yourself…your flame is gone. If I give you an aura…that might be enough to trick them long enough for you to escape.”

“Can't we just use the gate when it begins to collapse?” Darwin reminded.

“You could. You might even be able to walk right out of here. I don't know the answer. What I do know is you don't want them in your world. I don't think we can wait; you must get back and carry out your plan to shut the gate. While you're doing that I'll try to kill Marta and maybe I'll find your friend Tim and try to send him home, too.”

“Is Tim dead?” Darwin asked.

“Hard to say.” She paused. “Probably, but so is Steve. You mustn't think of life and death as linear, because they're not. Sometimes things can be undone. Time and space-nothing is written as forever.”

“So, how do I get an aura?” Steve asked, ready to do whatever it took.

“You must drink this tea,” Lynda said as she took the kettle from the flame dropping an oozing, red bag into the pot to begin the steeping process. “It's the most potent source of soul I can provide you. It's called Menstea.”

“I know that tea! One of the masters gave it to me in a vision.” Darwin jumped in, hoping he too could have the tea once again.

“The tea does nothing for me; being human, it's just gross.” She laughed. “Darwin would find the tea appealing, but someone like Steve, with no soul, this tea will for a short time allow you to feel almost human, and that is the aura!”

“It's good tea Steve, I've had it before,” Darwin assured.

“So, what is it exactly?” Steve asked with an apprehensive palate.

“Menstruation tea,” she calmly replied. “My menstruation, so we may as well just come right out with it.”

Darwin leaned over to Steve who he could see was wrinkling his brow, “It's still a good tea!” Darwin said.

“
Okay
, I'll drink it,” Steve said.

“Not so fast, we must be ready to crack the gate. Our time frames will be tight if this is to work,” Lynda continued to educate. “Did Shawn show you an inverted pentagram and some Latin chant when he sent you back the first time, Steve?”

He nodded, saying, “yeah, more or less. We both had to do it and it drained us both very quickly.”

“That might be because it's something you're body isn't allowed you to do. It's like punishment from the dark masters. Who knows? We're not going to do that. When Shawn came through the first time—when he died—he brought some stone from the cathedral with him. I can use those rocks like cannons to blast a hole into the next world. They're hallowed; the sacred part still rests within them. We coat one of them in the blood from the tree outside and give it a light toss. It will explode, blowing a hole into the real world. For a moment, the gate will open for you to return home.” Lynda calculated in her mind whether it would work or not.

“Have you ever done this before?” Darwin asked.

“I dropped one of the stones in the blood by accident when I first brought it back. It was actually a long time after Shawn had arrived. I was on one of my scavenging missions and I saw these stones glistened…it's the only reason I picked one up at all. I was curious. Anyway, it exploded and I saw the gate open but only for a moment. I saw the green forest on the other side. I told Shawn I thought I had found a way to send him home, but he declined, resigning himself to being a demon. Anyway, with the barrier weak the gate might open up longer than the split second it did for me!” she finished.

“Are you ready?” Darwin asked.

Steve was looking at the pot of tea knowing it was time. It was time to return home and put an end to the story he had started. The future was unknown but for once he was comfortable in whatever happened. He poured himself a mug of the red fluid and went outside.

The trio stood together, unsure if this was a good-bye or just another part in what might become a long battle. Lynda had made it clear her place was in the afterlife even though she remained alive. She wasn't sure how she would attack Marta, yet she knew her love of the dark arts did not extend to Hell on Earth.

Darwin and Steve knew in the next moment they might never see each other again. Steve was content in his ending, having already felt what it would be like to be a servant of the underworld.

Darwin on the other hand, was emotionally spent. Losing Steve yet one more time was more than his heart could take. It took going to Hell to find his soul and now that he had found it, he never wanted to let it go again.

“You got everything you need Darwin? I still can't promise any of the magic from here will work up there,” Lynda said as she gave Darwin a big hug.

“Yeah, I've got all of it. If it doesn't work then I'll go with plan B, scorched earth,” Darwin joked.

“Good bye, Steve,” Lynda said as she wrapped her large arms around the much smaller frame of the young man, “You're a good soul, even if you don't have one.”

“Thanks for everything. If you see Shawn, tell him I'm sorry I didn't get to say good-bye,” Steve requested.

Lynda nodded and smiled. Hating long good-byes she motioned to Steve to drink the tea which he did in several gulps. His body shook and he perked up looking radiant after he had consumed the period. Lynda bent down coating the rock in thick gobs of blood and quickly gave the rock a light toss into the leaves where it quickly began to smoke.

Seconds later, the rock snapped and exploded, tearing a bright light of color into existence. For a moment the air from the real world rushed in. The explosion of air was short lived rapidly reversing direction and funneling back out the breach. Darwin grabbed Steve by the hand and they looked at each other knowing it was now or never. Darwin took a step forward, and found Steve anchored, pulling on his arm. Darwin fell back into Steve's clutches and again they embraced.

Steve ended the moment, seizing Darwin by his hand and pulling him through the light and in a flash, they disappeared, leaving Lynda to handle the dark side of things.

The gate remained open but Steve and Darwin did not return.