Wolves among men (9 page)

“
It’s okay, I believe you
but you must learn to control your emotions if you are to control
the beast within you,” he spoke as he returned to his work. He
stood up quickly taking the bowl with him and walked back to the
kitchen to empty the bowl and pour a fresh batch. I watched my
sister carefully as he walked quietly behind me, the redness in her
arm had retreated and I could feel myself becoming hopeful. He sat
back down next to me and began to wash her with the sweet water
again.

“
This infection is not
biological, it is spiritual. That is what you must understand.
Doctors do not yet know the difference.” I listened carefully and
watched him as he worked slowly, I felt like I was in school again
and he was teaching me something I wanted so desperately to know. I
felt in my gut that if anyone could help us, help me it was
him.

“
They look the same to
most people,” He continued. “But a human cannot come in contact
with something evil without suffering the consequence. It is like a
poison to them. The blackness that was in that man was what
infected her.” He looked at me and a grave concern washed over his
face. “She would have died in a hospital. You did the right thing.”
He smiled up at me.

I wanted to speak, I had so many
questions but as soon as I got up the courage to ask the first one
I heard Cordillia groan on the couch.

“
Ethan?” She whispered
without opening her eyes. I took her hand in mine and brushed her
hair away from her forehead as I answered her.

“
I’m right here.” She
squeezed my hand gently before resting her head on the pillow and
falling back into sleep. I turned back to the old man and leaned my
back against the couch as he continued to work uninterrupted. “How
do you know all of this?”

“
I told you, we can tell
the difference. We know when a sickness is spiritual or physical
and a spiritual sickness can only mean one thing.”

“
By meeting something
evil.” I finished.

“
No,” he spoke. “The evil
has to get into the body somehow. It got into you but the one that
got into this young woman was deadly to her.” The color left my
face and I choked on my words trying so hard to get them out. “Do
not worry young man; you’re under no danger here.”

“
You know what I am?” I
asked him not sure if I wanted the answer.

“
Yes,” he replied. “But I
wonder…” He thought for a moment as he put the rag back into the
bowl and gave me a gentle look. “Do you know what you
are?

Chapter Seven

A long silence passed between us as I
searched for the right words to say. There was no doubt in my mind
that he could know what I was but could he really help me? I came
here searching for answers but I was left with more questions
instead.

I looked over at Cordillia, her eyes
fluttered open slowly as the old man stood and walked quietly back
to the kitchen. She was smiling weakly but at least it was
something, the pink had returned to her cheeks and I breathed a
sigh of relief as I noticed the wound on her shoulder had begun to
show small signs of healing.

“
Does it hurt?” I asked in
barely more than a whisper. Her eyes met mine and I was happy to
see the shine had started to return to them. She shook her head and
gripped my hand tightly, using me as leverage as she pulled herself
up slowly and rested her back against the arm of the couch. “I
think it worked.” I smiled over at the old man as he came back from
the kitchen with a fresh bowl.

“
Not quite.”

“
What do you mean? Look at
her.” I beamed as he knelt down in front of her and placed the
newly soaked rag on her shoulder and pressed it tight.

“
She’s doing better you’re
right but she still has a long way to go.” Cordillia’s eyes
fluttered and her head fell back as she slipped into
unconsciousness once again. I caught her head in my hand and laid
her back down on the couch gently. “You see?” He turned to me as he
readjusted the rag. I nodded gently and followed his lead as he
stood from the floor, leaving the medicine soaked rag to do its
work. “Come with me.” He smiled as he placed his hand on my back
and led me back outside.

The fresh air was nice I had to admit
but a part of me had little interest in truly enjoying it as I sat
in a weather worn wooden chair across from his. “So tell me; how
did you find your way here?” He asked.

“
Cordillia suggested it.”
He nodded as he looked down at his feet.

“
Who is Cordillia?” He
asked and in that moment I was more than a little embarrassed. In
all this time I hadn’t realized that I somehow lacked the good
manners for a proper introduction.

“
Sorry, the girl in
there...” I motioned behind me. “She’s my sister Cordillia.” He
nodded softly.

“
And you are?”

“
Ethan,” I held my hand
out to him, smiling as he shook it gingerly. “Ethan Harlow.” He
nodded.

“
I’m Robert.” He added as
he let go of me and leaned back in his chair.

“
So how long has it
been?”

“
Has what been?” I
smirked. He eyed me and somehow in that moment I knew just what he
was asking. I sighed heavily and leaned back in my
chair.

“
Three months, maybe
four.” I answered with a shrug.

“
You don’t
know?”

“
I was in a coma.” I
explained. “After I was attacked I just went under and didn’t come
out of it for nearly a month.” He nodded as he listened.

“
Have you hurt
anyone?”

“
You mean besides that
freak at the diner?” I smirked. “No. I mean I almost did but I got
out of there before anything really bad happened.” I jumped
slightly as Cordillia began to scream from the house but before I
could get to my feet the old man placed a hand on mine and shook
his head. “I have to get in there.”

“
It’s only a nightmare.
She has to go through this.” I threw myself back down in my chair
and sighed as I ran my hands over my face.

“
So I just have to listen
to her scream like that?”

“
Unfortunately
yes.”

“
Why?” I
barked.

“
I told you, coming into
contact with something evil has its consequences.”

“
But....”

“
This is just one of them.
She’s purging it from her system and if you want to help her you’ll
stay put,” he spoke sternly as he leaned back in his chair leaving
me with a choice. I didn’t want to but somehow I decided it was
best to listen to him and tried my hardest to stay concentrated on
him and not the sounds of suffering coming from the other
room.

“
Have you seen this kind
of thing before?” he nodded and leaned back as he spoke.

“
Once, a long time ago. I
was just a boy but it was enough to convince me that the tales of
our tribe weren’t exactly fairy tales.”

“
What like skin walkers
and things like that?” his lips curled up in a slight smile at the
mention of the word.

“
Yes, among other things.
How do you know about skin walkers?”

“
Something Cordillia told
me.” I smiled. “She said that this tribe, your tribe,” I corrected
myself. “They had legends of things called skin walkers and she
thought that maybe someone here might know something that could
help us.” He chuckled lightly as he reached over to a small table
and pulled a cigarette from a nearly empty pack. I followed his
lead and leaned back in my chair as I filled the air around us with
a cloud of thick blue smoke.

“
Well your sister was
right Ethan; we do have a lot of legends.” He smiled.

“
Okay so tell me about
skin walkers.” I asked enthusiastically. He shook his head as he
took a deep pull from his cigarette. “Why not?”

“
Because it won’t help
you.” He chuckled. “Do you know what a skin walker is?” I shook my
head. “A skin walker is a witch that can willingly change its shape
into the animal it chooses, can you change into a bird?” I shook my
head and smirked. “A fox? A bear?”

“
No.”

“
Did you choose
this?”

“
No.”

“
Are you a witch?” I
laughed loudly as a smile crossed his lips.

“
No.”

“
Then it won’t help
you.”

“
Okay, so what am I?” He
sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep pull
from his cigarette as he looked at me thoughtfully.

“
You know what you are,
Ethan,” he spoke quietly and I shook my head.

“
No I don’t.”

“
Yes you do,” he argued.
“You’re Ethan Harlow, you told me yourself.” I shook my head again
as a frustrated grin crossed my face. “Just because there is now
more to you doesn’t mean that you are any different than you were
before.” I thought carefully about what he said. In a way he was
right but I still couldn’t hold to the idea that I was the same man
as I was before. We sat in silence for a long while, allowing the
world around us to simply exist as we listened to the soft cries
and shrieks that came from the other room. I wanted to comfort her,
to wake her from her nightmare but Robert simply shook his head
every time the thought crossed my mind.

“
When can I see her?” I
pleaded quietly.

“
When the dreams have
passed, she needs time, Ethan.” I nodded and sighed heavily. He
looked up as the last rays of the sun crossed over the horizon
leaving us in darkness and stood from his chair as the howling of
wolves somewhere in the distance filled the air around us. “Come
with me.” He offered as he pulled open the screen door and held it
still for me. I took one last look out at the woods before sighing
heavily and standing from my chair.

Following him into the tiny cabin, I
watched absently as he changed Cordillia’s rag, wishing and praying
that she would just snap out of it but I never was so lucky. It
wasn’t long before the nightmares started again and I could see
them twisting her face as Robert stood from her side and walked
over to me.

“
Your sister will be
fine,” he spoke quietly as he led me out of the living room and
down a narrow hallway. He pushed open a solid oak door to my left
and ushered me inside. “Try and get some sleep.” I nodded absently
and turned toward the small bed, eager to put the day behind me as
he closed the door and left me alone with my thoughts. I threw
myself down on the bed without a second thought and closed my eyes,
burying my head underneath a small pillow as her scattered shrieks
filled the air of the tiny cabin once again. Like some kind of
morbid lullaby the last thing I remember was her voice crying out
to me before the deep dark hold of sleep pulled me into
nothingness.

Normally people look forward to sleep as a
time of rest and a place for dreams to take shape but somewhere
along the line my dreams became twisted and contorted, a place for
my darkest fears to take hold. When we were kids, we knew that
monsters existed. They were the creeks and groans from the unseen
corners of the room and the shadows that seemed to move without the
benefit of light. They scratched at the walls, crept across the
floors and made you pray you didn’t have to get up in the night.
Not alone, not for anything.

As you grow up, you forget
about them. When you’re told enough times that something doesn’t
exist, you start to believe it.
But what
do you tell your children when you yourself have become the very
thing you once feared?

These are the thoughts that haunt my
dreams, images of beasts and man fighting for the right to live,
fighting for survival in a world that has been overrun by monsters.
I shot awake from my bed, covered with sweat and aching for breath
as I closed my eyes and did the best I could to shake the images
from my mind. My attention turned toward Cordillia as I heard her
voice echo down the hallway and with a sudden rush of excitement, I
climbed out of bed and made my way out into the living room, eager
to see her.

Rounding the corner, I stopped short
as Robert stepped in front of me and bent down to hand her a tall
blue glass. She sniffed it gingerly and looked over at
him.

“
It smell’s
sweet.”

“
It’s just sugar water.”
He smiled back. I caught myself in a chuckle as her eyebrow rose in
a questioning glance.