Wolves among men (10 page)

“
Sugar water?”

“
It’ll take the edge
off.”

“
Trust him, Cordy.” I
smiled as I stepped around him and sat in front of the couch. Her
hair was a knotted mess, her eyes sunken in as if she hadn’t slept
in days and her lips were dry and cracked. She had been through
hell, even if it was only in her mind and it showed. I watched as
she lifted the glass to her lips and cleared it gratefully, handing
it back to Robert with a belch.

“
Oh my God I’m sorry.” She
laughed as he took it from her hands with a chuckle. He reached
over and brushed the back of his hand against her forehead as she
looked up at him.

“
You’re feeling better
now?” It was more of a statement than a question. Waving her hand
dismissively, she shrugged.

“
I’m still tired.” She
yawned.

“
That will pass.” Robert
turned and made his way toward the kitchen without a word. I was
drawn back to the moment as Cordillia reached out and took my hand
gently, smiling down at me as I watched her from the
floor.

“
How did you sleep?” She
rolled her eyes and shook her head, pulling her hand back onto her
lap as she sighed.

“
I had a terrible dream.”
I nodded softly, knowing the feeling all too well as her face
twisted with fear.

“
What was it about?”
Robert asked as he held the glass out to her once again and she
took it gratefully. I wondered why he wanted to know, why this
stranger was interested and as if he read my thoughts he turned to
me and spoke, “Dreams are a sacred thing among my people,” he
explained as Cordillia downed the glass of water and placed the
empty cup on the table next to her. She pulled her blanket up to
her chest and held it tight as she closed her eyes.

“
I was in the woods...”
Robert sat down in an overstuffed armchair as we watched her
carefully, waiting for her to continue, “It was dark, cold and it
smelled awful.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust as the memory flooded
back to her. “I could see this smoke coming from the other side of
the woods and I started to run toward it, I didn’t want to but I
couldn’t help it.” She took a deep breath and gripped the blanket
tighter.

“
The smell got worse as I
got close and I ran into this clearing toward a large fire with
people all around it.”

“
Did you recognize them?”
Robert interrupted.

She shook her head without looking up
and continued her story, “There were six of them, maybe seven and I
thought it was safe there so I walked toward them. They were joking
and laughing,” She smiled slightly. “And they were eating
something. They had plenty left so I thought I’d ask if I could
join them. I was so hungry...” She trailed off as a soft stream of
tears began to fall down her cheeks. “One of them looked up at me
and he invited me over.”

“
What did he look like?”
Robert asked softly.

She looked up at him, her face stained
with fear and her lip quivered as she spoke, “He was tall, bigger
than the rest with dark hair and yellow eyes. I thought it was
strange and something in me told me not to go but he knew my name
and he was so nice....” She looked down and shook her head as she
reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. “I sat next to him and
they went back to their conversation like I wasn’t even there. Then
he handed me something and told me to eat.”

“
What was it?” I looked
over at Robert, I was a little more than curious why he had so many
questions but more than that I wanted to know what she saw. She
looked up at him and her face went white.

“
At first I didn’t know
but then I saw the little boy that was roasting over the fire,” She
burst into tears as she spoke, making her hard to understand as her
body shook with violent sobs. “He was just a kid and his face-” She
shook her head. I pulled myself up on the couch and threw my arm
over her shoulder, pulling her tight as she took a deep breath and
continued her story, “He was looking right at me, screaming but
there was no sound. He was torn open and when I looked around I saw
that he wasn’t the only one. There were tents behind me torn open
and stained with blood, the people that were in them were ripped
apart and scattered over the ground.”

She stopped and closed her eyes,
taking a deep breath before she continued, “I threw the plate into
the fire and turned to run but I tripped and fell into that man,
the one with the yellow eyes except he wasn’t a man anymore.” She
looked toward me, her face eerily calm and her voice sure as she
spoke, “He was like you.” My stomach dropped as she looked down.
“He was black, like the man at the diner and I fought to get away
from him but I think he just let me go. The others, they started to
walk toward me and the closer they got the less human they were.
One of them grabbed me and started dragging me toward the fire and
I called for you.” She turned to me as she began to cry once again.
“I screamed and screamed but you didn’t come.” She wiped the tears
from her face and took a deep breath as she leaned back against the
couch and pulled her knees into her chest. “That’s when I woke
up.”

“
It was just a nightmare,”
I tried to assure her.

“
I know.” She held her
hand up to stop me. “I know, Ethan, just please let me forget it.”
We sat in silence. I wanted her to know it was okay but somehow I
couldn’t bring myself to speak as she stared down at her fingers
absently. The phone rang and I nearly jumped from my seat as the
sound bounced off of the walls and broke our silence. Robert patted
her knee gently as he stood and quieted its incessant
ringing.

“
Marcus?” he began. My
eyes never left Cordillia as he spoke quietly into the phone,
stopping every so often to simply listen. “My son is coming with
your truck.” I looked up quickly, confused as Robert stood over me
with a smile. I hadn’t heard him hang up the phone let alone walk
over to me but I shook it off and nodded at him as he moved to take
his seat once again.

“
Some of my friends and
family will be coming here tonight. Do you remember the way from
town?” he asked as he adjusted himself.

“
I think so.” I
smirked.

“
That’s okay, Marcus can
show you.” He smiled over at me. “I’ll have him show you where to
get cleaned up and rest. Tonight at sunset you will come back
here.” He added as though we had no choice. “It’ll be fun, I
promise.” It was starting to become unnerving how he seemed to be
able to tell just what I was thinking.

“
Food?” Cordillia asked
with a smile.

“
I plan on roasting a
deer.” She shot back happily and grinned.

“
Never had it.” She shook
her head with a smile.

“
Then you’re in for a
treat young lady.” It wasn’t until I listened to the two of them
that I realized just how hungry I was.

We passed the rest of the time getting
to know our new friend. Cordillia asked most of the questions and I
just listened happily as he spilled the details of his life story
at her feet. He told us that he came from a long line of medicine
men and that his family had lived on this stretch of land for over
a hundred years.

“
Have you seen anything
like this before?” I asked, motioning toward Cordillia. Solemnly he
nodded and leaned back into his chair.

“
Once when I was a child.”
He began with a deep breath. “A boy named Mason, he was about
sixteen and one afternoon he and his father went hunting in the
woods when they were attacked by a large creature, at least that’s
how he told it.”

“
What happened to him?”
Cordillia asked quietly.

“
He walked back into town
and my father found him crawling up the front steps of this cabin.”
He motioned toward the door. “My father brought him in and fixed
him up with the same salve I used to cure you.” He smiled at
Cordillia.

“
So he lived.”

“
In a way.” Robert nodded.
“His body healed but his mind was never the same.”

“
What do you mean? He went
crazy?”

“
Even the strongest of
minds can have a hard time accepting dark truths.” He nodded. “He
spent the rest of his short life paranoid and almost never left his
home. He grew dependent on his sister and his mother to take care
of him until one day he put an end to it.”

“
He killed himself.”
Robert nodded. “But why?” Cordillia sat at the edge of her seat as
Robert shrugged slightly.

“
He didn’t leave a note or
tell anyone why but in a way I think his family was relived. In
some small way death was a release for him.” A shared sense of
understanding filled the room as the deep rumble of my truck’s
engine shook the floor and brought a smile to my lips. We helped
Cordillia off of the couch and she leaned against me as we followed
Robert outside to greet his son.

It was a short visit as Marcus jotted
down some instructions on a piece of paper and handed them to
me.

“
There is a small casino
in the heart of town, they have a hotel so you can clean up and get
some rest there if you need to.” I nodded gratefully. “I’d take you
there myself but I’m on my lunch break.” He smiled.

“
No problem.” I turned
toward Robert and offered him my hand as Marcus helped Cordillia
into the truck. “Thanks man.” He took my hand in his and smiled
sweetly.

“
I’m glad I could help,
you think about what I told you.”

“
I will.” His face
darkened and became serious as he pulled me closer to
him.

“
When the time comes for
you to make a choice remember who you are not who they want you to
be.” I pulled away and looked up at him in confusion.

“
What does that
mean?”

“
Just the ramblings of an
old man.” He smiled as if nothing had happened. I said my goodbyes
and climbed into my truck, my thoughts dancing wildly as I started
the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

“
What did he say to you?”
Cordillia asked as I made my way down the narrow dusty
road.

“
He just told me to look
out for you,” I lied. She nodded slightly and rested her head
against the window, closing her eyes as we pulled out of the woods
and onto the deserted main street of town.

Chapter Eight

As we drove through the nearly
deserted main streets of town one thing stood out more than
anything else about the tiny reservation. They weren’t used to
visitors. People stopped and stared as we drove past the short line
of shops and well-kept houses, in a town this small it wasn’t
surprising that an outsider would be so easily recognized or
something of interest for that matter. At least I hoped that that
was all there was to the eyes that followed my truck as we flew
by.

Cordillia seemed to love it but the
undo attention made me just a little more than nervous. Robert had
said that this reserve didn’t get a whole lot of visitors these
days, with the Hopi tribe having a bigger casino and a small museum
there wasn’t much of a reason to come here anymore. But the way he
spoke, I couldn’t help but feel that they liked it that
way.

After a short while, we finally came
to a large flashy building at the end of a small parking lot. There
were a few cars parked outside, nothing to be excited about but
somehow the building itself seemed so out of place. A large white
structure cast its shadow over us as I pulled into a spot and cut
off the engine. Painted with bright reds and gold trimming it did
little to blend in with the thick line of woods that surrounded it.
As I climbed out of the cab, I noticed something moving out of the
corner of my eye, a deer lifted her head from a small patch of
grass. Her eyes focused on me as her ears twitched and moved from
even the slightest of sounds.

I heard Cordillia faintly, climbing
out of the truck and tiptoeing to my side as the creature returned
to her meal.

“
She’s beautiful,”
Cordillia whispered as she came to a stop at my side. The creature
perked up once again and shot into the woods as graceful as she was
quick. Cordillia groaned as the doe disappeared from our sight and
I couldn’t help but smirk as I turned to her.

“
Go grab your bag.” I
smiled as she pouted. With our bags in tow, I pulled open the glass
front doors of the small casino, relishing slightly in the burst
off cool air that hit me as I followed my sister inside.

“
This place is massive,”
she said as she looked around almost in awe. I chuckled lightly as
we walked slowly across the red plush carpet into the massive front
room. More people than I had expected were grumbling and throwing
their money at machines and smiling dealers hoping to walk away
rich and for a moment I wondered just how many of them ever
actually accomplished there goal.