“We're on our way over to see Rick and offer our condolences,” Edna said. “We just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing.”
“Be sure to go right home tonight,” Pearl said.
“And lock your doors,” Edna added.
“I will. If you hear anything…”
“We'll let you know, dear,” Pearl said.
I stared after them. They had to be wrong. Susie couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be.
I was thinking about closing the shop early when Rafe arrived.
It was the first time I had seen him when it was still light outside. “You're here early.”
“I heard about Susie.”
Tears stung my eyes. “Do you know what happened to her?”
“No, but I have a pretty good idea.”
“She's not…”
“I don't know. I was going to go look for her, but I wanted to make sure you were all right first.”
“I'm fine,” I said. “And I'm coming with you.”
“I'm not sure that's a good idea.”
“We're wasting time.”
He didn't argue further. I grabbed my purse, locked up the store, and followed him to his car. By the time we reached the cutoff to Brawley Woods, the sun had set, plunging the world into darkness. There were only a few houses out this way, and they were set a good distance from the road. There were no streetlights, no illumination of any kind save for the car's headlights and a few scattered stars.
I tapped my fingertips on the armrest, trying not to think about what we might find.
Thirty minutes later, Rafe pulled off the road. There was no sign of Susie's car. I supposed her husband or the police had taken it back to town. How many other people had disappeared that no one knew about? I fingered the cross at my throat, wondering if it would really protect me.
Rafe came around to open the door for me, and I got out of the car. “Now what?”
He signaled for me to be quiet; then, closing his eyes, he lifted his head and sniffed the wind.
He stood so still and blended into the shadows so perfectly, it was almost as if he was a part of the night. He looked so otherworldly standing there that it sent a shiver down my spine. The word Vampire whispered in the back of my mind, reminding me once again that there was an immense gulf between us that I could never cross.
Abruptly, Rafe took my hand in his. “This way,” he said, and plunged into the woods. The trees grew thick here, their branches intertwining to form a thick canopy overhead. The ground was covered with pinecones, bits of bark, and broken branches.
As I stumbled along behind Rafe, I wished my night vision was as good as his obviously was. I couldn't help thinking that looking for someone in Brawley Woods was like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack. The woods covered thirteen square miles of ground that were crisscrossed with deep crevices and gullies and pockmarked by dozens of caves. What chance did we have of finding Susie, if she was even out here?
We had been walking about twenty minutes when Rafe stopped. He sniffed the air again; then, veering to the right, he continued on.
The trees weren't so thick here. I shivered as the wind shifted. Glancing up, I saw that dark gray clouds were gathering overhead.
Another ten minutes ticked into eternity, and then I heard it, a funny whimpering sound, almost like an animal in pain. It made the short hairs prickle along my nape. “What was that?”
Before he could answer, I saw a dark shape huddled on the ground beside a tree. My foot hit a branch, and the creature's head jerked up, its eyes wild.
“Susie!” I stared at her in disbelief. She was naked, and as the moon emerged from behind the clouds, I saw that she had been crying.
“Go away!” She scooted backward, her hands awkwardly covering her nakedness.
“Susie, it's me.”
“Go away!” A sob was wrenched from deep inside her as she continued to scramble backward. “Please, just go away.”
“Susie, listen to me.” Rafe's voice, low and mesmerizing, brought her to a halt. “We're here to help you.”
“No one can help me,” she cried, her voice filled with soul-deep anguish. “No one!”
“Trust me.” Rafe moved toward her as he spoke. “I'm not going to hurt you.”
She looked up at him, her arms crossed over her breasts, tears running unchecked down her cheeks. Leaves and debris were tangled in her hair, there were scratches on her arms and legs, scratches that were healing, fading, even as I watched. Most troubling of all was the dried blood on her inner thighs. Had she been raped? I glanced around, wondering where her clothes were.
Rafe knelt before Susie. Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks. Removing his shirt, he draped it over her shoulders. “There now,” he said. “You'll be all right.”
She shook her head. “No, I'll never be all right again. My baby, oh, my poor baby.”“Susie, what happened?” I asked, coming up behind Rafe.
“Not now,” he said, and lifting Susie into his arms, he turned and headed back the way we'd come.
I hurried after him, a thousand questions screaming in my head.
When we reached the car, Rafe opened the rear door and settled Susie in the backseat. I crawled in beside her. She was shivering convulsively now. I put my arms around her, hoping to help warm her.
Raphael started the car and turned the heater on full blast.
“You'll be home soon,” he said, speaking to Susie over his shoulder.
“No! No, I don't want to go home. I can't go home! Please!”
Seeing that she was on the verge of hysteria, I said, “We won't take you home, I promise. You can stay at my place, all right?”
Still shivering, she huddled against me, silent tears tracking her cheeks. Feeling helpless, I patted her shoulder, murmuring that everything would be all right.
When we reached my house, Raphael carried Susie inside. I marveled at how gentle he was with her, how the very sound of his voice seemed to soothe her.
I followed him inside, taking a quick moment to admire his bare back before I closed and locked the door behind us.
“Rafe,” I said, “bring her into the bathroom.” Leading the way, I turned on the taps and added some scented bubble bath, hoping it would relax her.
Rafe held Susie until the tub was full, then slipped his shirt off her shoulders and lowered her into the water.
“Anything else I can do?” he asked, looking at me.
I shook my head.
“I'll be in the other room,” he said. “Call me if you need me.”
With a nod, I closed the door. Susie lay in the bathtub with bubbles up to her chin. She stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked.
She shook her head, then whispered, “I wish he'd killed me.”
“Who?” I asked. “Who did this to you?”
“I don't know. I was coming home from a meeting with Mrs. Blythe. It seems Jody has been causing some trouble in class.” She smiled wistfully. “He's a good boy, you know.”
I nodded. Jody was her youngest son. “Go on.”
“I stopped at the light on the corner of First and Elm, and a man got into the car. He made me drive out to the woods and then…” She shuddered. “He dragged me out of the car. I thought he was going to rape me. I told myself I could live with that, if he'd just leave me alive. But he didn't rape me. He…he turned into a wolf. A wolf.” She shuddered again. “He bit me….”
She pushed her hair aside, and I saw an ugly red wound smeared with dried blood. I thought it odd that her other scrapes and scratches had disappeared, but the bite mark remained.
“I don't remember anything after that except…I had a horrible nightmare. I dreamed I was a wolf.” A single tear ran down Susie's cheek. “When I woke in the morning, I couldn't find my clothes and I…I panicked and started running, but I got lost in the woods.”
She laughed, a dull, humorless sound. “I remembered reading somewhere that if you got lost, you should sit down and wait for someone to find you, so that's what I did. I told myself that Rick would find me, that everything would be okay, that nothing worse could happen to me.”
She looked at me, her expression bleak. “Just proves how wrong you can be. Hours passed and no one came.” She folded her arms over her breasts. “I was about to start walking again when the same man suddenly appeared. I told him to go away and leave me alone, but he just laughed. He said he'd come to help me.”
“Help you? Help you how?”
“I didn't know at the time. I thought he was some kind of lunatic, because he wouldn't let me go, but he gave me food and water. I slept the rest of the day. When I woke, he told me the moon was full and that I was going to change. Before I could ask what he meant…” She closed her eyes. “It happened.”
“What happened?” I had to ask, even though I was afraid I already knew the answer.
“I turned into a wolf. It was horrible, painful, frightening.” She placed her hand over her abdomen. “I miscarried in the middle of it.”
“Oh, Susie, I'm so sorry.” And even as I spoke the words, I was overcome with relief. Thank goodness the moon wasn't full tonight. And then I frowned. “You need to see a doctor.”
“No!”
“But…”
“I'm all right. Don't you know? Werewolves heal quickly.”
I stood there, feeling totally helpless as I tried to think of something to say.
“It's probably for the best,” she said in that same lifeless tone. “No baby should have a Werewolf for a mother.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “How can I ever trust myself to be alone with my children? What will Rick say? What will my parents say? The ladies at church?”
Moaning softly, she clutched her stomach. “My baby, I want my baby.”