Death's Saviour

5Author’s Song of the Chapter: Down by Jason Walker (ft Molly Reed)

Last Friday I attended a funeral for a girl that I didn’t even know, I did know her name. Fiona, she was one of the wolves who go to my school. I call them Werewolves but my girl Hannah always scolded me for it. I went to the funeral for Hannah, she and Fiona were friends. My blood boils at the thought of the funeral. Hannah went missing a year ago and these people are mourning someone who died. They should be looking for my Hannah, then again I can’t say they haven’t tried. We all tried, we have looked everywhere for her but there have been no signs. Chris and Sally, Hannah’s parents have given up on her, the police assure us that she is dead and if anything turns up it will be a body. I think about how we have no closure, unlike Fiona’s family. Sally and Chris do not have a body to place in a casket. I have to admit I’m starting to give up on Hannah but I don’t want to. I can’t help but think that if she were alive she would come back to me, she and I had plans, plans that I don’t want to give up on. It is because of those plans that I currently stand outside of this ratty old poetry house in the heart of town, Hannah loved this place because she was aspiring to be an English major. I, on the other hand, suck horribly at English, I’m a better artist. Painting has always been my release even from before I met Hannah. Yet, Hannah encouraged me and always told me to strive to be better, I tried to be better for her, especially since my story isn’t one that is picked for reality TV shows. I grew up in a trailer park with a single mother, apparently, my father died when I was just a couple of months old. In middle school, I was already a smoker and I had my hands in the drug business. Hannah cleaned me up and I haven’t touched drugs or a cigarette in years, the moment I met Hannah she helped me. Now my fingers ache for my paintbrushes and my lips beg for the stress relief of a good cigarette or joint. It’s a colder night but it is early March still, I’m amazed the snow melted early this year with how far up north I live. It’s obviously due to the fact that we recently had summer temperatures. I rub my hands together as I step outside of the poetry place and into the alleyway beside it. My coat is warm enough but my cold ears are missing my winter hat as I try to mess my hair up so it covers my ears more. The hat is back at my mom’s and her new boyfriend is really into beating people so it’s not something I’m going back for anytime soon. I planned on crashing at my best friend’s house for as long as they would let me. Carl and Perry know everything about my background and they are loyal guys. I used to go to Hannah’s without a second thought on nights like this, but she isn’t there and I don’t want to give Chris and Sally any more reminders that she is gone. The funeral was hard enough for them already. I flinch when a loud crackling sends my ears ringing and my eyes widen as the church that stands tall over the city a few blocks from here bursts up into flames lighting up the night sky. The brightness of the fire blinds my eyes as I step sideways trying to use the building to shield them. Maybe that is why I don’t see the huge dog coming at me until it is too late, when I say huge I mean giant, it might even be a horse for all I can tell in this light. It certainly feels like a horse as it crashes into me sending me flying. With a thump, I smack my head off of the concrete beneath me and darkness swamps me. I’m down and out for the count as I close my eyes.

…

I wake to the sound of sirens blaring in the distance, it sends a light throb through my head but nothing too serious. I sit up from where I lay and I realize the impact must have knocked me out as my headaches a little, when I reach behind my head I feel a pretty good goose egg coming on. I sigh in frustration, could things get any worse? First Hannah goes missing, next, this girl Fiona dies, then the church randomly goes up in flames, and now I’m aching because some giant dog, horse thing ran me over. Oh, yeah my nice warm coat is missing, great! I glance around for any sign of the giant horse thing and my coat as I pull myself to my feet. I’m rubbing glass shards mixed with dirt from my pants when I catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. I swallow and hope that it is better than what I’m thinking, I’ve seen people od in my trailer park and it isn’t pretty but it would make sense of why I see a naked person. I move closer and come around a garbage bin with a huge dent in its side. I blink once, twice, three times and then I think no way this can’t be. I peer down and I find myself thinking that the face is so close that it could be. A girl lays passed out on the ground before me, she is naked and has a large cut along her forehead that is caked with blood yet, even through the grim and blood I can see that this girl could be Hannah. The features are practically identical and the curve of the nose fits, the only differences are this girl has thicker lips, her body is more athletically toned, and she has a tattoo of a half-moon on her thigh. I drag my eyes away from her body and back to her face. Reacting on instinct I know I should take this girl to a hospital for that head cut, I take off my extra shirt and wrap it around her fallen body to keep her warm. I lick my thumb and carefully reach down wiping away the caked-on blood. As soon as I have the blood removed I flinch away as the wound slowly heals before my very eyes, it closes up, it doesn’t even leave a scar. This just got a little weird, I don’t think I can take her to the hospital anymore since this new development. Instead, I gently grab the girl and heave her up into my arms, she is light but she is definitely all muscle. I notice that she is rather tall, I’m ‘6,0’ so this girl must be pushing ‘5,9’ which is around the same height Hannah was. I try not to think about the piling up coincidences but I can’t overlook them. I carry her lightly as I go to the only place I know that I can go for this, I walk to Chris and Sally’s house slowly as not to jostle the girl around too much. In my heart, I ache and pray that this is Hannah, but, at the same time, I don’t want this to be Hannah because I get the feeling this girl has been through hell and I don’t want that for Hannah. My shirt falls open and I grimace at the raised white flesh of the scar above the girls one breast on her heart-side. I appreciate the way this girl’s night-black hair frames her face as it makes me really want to see her eyes, instead I cover her back up and continue on. If this was my Hannah I would know from her eyes, she always had the most beautiful baby blue eyes. The walk to Chris and Sally’s isn’t a long one but by the time I do arrive it is deep into the middle of the night, surprisingly I’m not cold. I swing the girl over one shoulder in order to be able to knock on the door, my knuckles wrap quickly twice as I want to wake them up but at the same time I’d rather not wake the neighbours up. If my hunch is right then they probably aren’t sleeping, instead, they are watching the news for signs of Hannah. I’m right when Chris answers the door right away.

“Noah, what are you doing here? Is it your mom again?” Chris asks me in a sleepy voice as he peers out into the street behind me clearly not quite awake.

“No, I’m here because of her!” I explain as I hold the girl out in front of me a little for him to see, her face falls into the lamplight that illuminates their front door.

In that light, she looks undeniably like Hannah and it sends my hopes soaring.

“Is that Hannah?” Sally questions in an awed voice as Chris takes one look at the girl before quickly ushering me into the house.

We dress the girl in a pair of Hannah’s pyjamas and wrap her up in a blanket on the couch so that she can warm up though I have to admit she does radiate her own heat well enough. As soon as she is out of my arms I feel a little off-kilter in the heart. I never felt this way when Hannah wasn’t in my arms, I feel attached to this girl but I just shake it off as the potential to have found my girl. I don’t go far as I settle on the couch with my back against the bottom of the seat, I place my hand over the girls. Sally and Chris settle in the dining area where they can sit but still easily be able to see us. I take note that the girl’s head wound still hasn’t made any other appearances which should be impossible. I’ve only ever heard of the ability to heal at this rate from legends of a pack that lived before the white-furred wolves ruled here, a pack that shifted between human and wolf freely. I never believed much of the hocus pocus about the wolves, since I have never actually seen anything different about them. I don’t’ even believe they are special or real. I’ve come to believe that the wolves are just glorified humans that come from powerful and creative families. Those families just happen to own this town and everyone within it. I smile because they don’t own me, and they never will. The one thing I can be thankful in this day and time is that I am still a free eighteen-year-old man, no one owns me. I allow my thoughts to scatter and wander freely about in my mind, they drift from thoughts of Hannah to the supposed Wolves, and to more pressing matters such as my mother and her asshole boyfriend. I will admit, however, that something is different about this boyfriend, something is more dangerous about him but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Dangerous, the word makes me frown. Nothing about my life should have been dangerous, yet, I grew up in a skanky trailer park, and my girlfriend went missing. Suddenly the TV across the room blares onto a section about the church and I turn my attention to it.

“The body of the convicted murderer Scott Temple has been recovered from the burnt remains of a local Christian church this evening. The victim was presumed to be caught in the church admitting his sins before his trial when the church went up in an inferno. The pastor escaped safely and has no comments on this event. The cause of the fire looks to be a case of arson but it is still under investigation.” Our local news reporter John states over the TV as an odd feeling settles into my chest.

“Churches don’t get burnt to the ground days after a girl is killed by a wild animal!” I murmur out loud before I realize that I am voicing my thoughts.

“It is odd, yes, but it happens,” Chris states calmly as his eyes turned to the TV as he listens to the next story that comes on.

At that point, I tune out as deep tiredness comes over me. I haven’t slept solidly in forever, it shows in the dark circles beneath my eyes and the constant exhaustion I feel.

'Safe here, sleep now' - A voice I assume is my sleep delirious brain echoes in my mind.

I lean my head back against the girl’s leg and my eyes closed as I feel safe and warm here. I in no way intended to actually fall asleep but with all that has been going on lately I couldn’t help it. I drift off into dreams as my eyelids are heavy, they stay closed. My dreams take me away from this nightmare that is my life, my dreams are good for once. My dreams make me happy as I see a wolf running around in the forest and I chase it playing around. I haven’t been happy since Hannah disappeared.

…

“Noah, wake up!” A voice calls softly and something prods me in the shoulder.

I groan as I wake from my blessed dreams and come back into reality. The sun peeks over the forest flooding the family room through the huge back patio doors and window that looks out into the forest. That light falls across the girl’s face as she rolls behind me. I rub at my eyes groggily as the wolves green eyes in my dream press at my thoughts, they were such a gorgeous green that they make my breath catch in my throat. I scramble up to join Chris as I notice Sally standing close to the girl. Sally strokes the girl’s cheek in a methodical way and the girl leans into it groaning.

“Mamma?” The girl asks in a groggy voice, instantly I can tell her voice is different, it is rough and edgy instead of soft.

There is something that reaches me in her voice though, the total sound of innocence, and the lost, vulnerable way her voice seems to come out as if she is falling down a tunnel that she can’t find the end of. She seems almost raw, open at this moment.

“Yes sweetie it’s me.” Sally soothes her, I know that she has missed the voice difference.

“Mamma please don’t leave me, I’m not ready to lose you. Mamma, I need you, please stay. Mamma open your eyes!” The girl pleads and her voice is so small and vulnerable as she thrashes on the couch panic edging into her tone.

“I’m not going anywhere, Hannah!” Sally coos in a soft voice but Chris moves up to her whispering in her ear as he moves her away from the girl.

“Mommy, daddy, come back!” The girl calls out, suddenly she bolts up on the couch as her chest heaves up and down while she sucks in quick breaths of air.

The girl has striking, vibrant green eyes that contain a certain hidden depth full of secrets and pain. I’m struck by the green eyes as they are identical to the wolf’s eyes in my dream. Her eyes turn to look at us and they go wide as they really see us. I blink, suddenly the couch is flipped over and the girl has pushed her body into the only corner of the room. She looks at us with wild eyes, she stands in a stance as if she is prepared for us to attack her.

“Hannah?” The girl repeats Sally’s former words clearly confused.

Sally moves which causes the girl to flinch as she blinks, she sways as Sally moves again and I can tell she is about to go down. I move before I really think and catch the girl as her eyes roll in her head. She lands in my arms, I move her back to the couch that Chris has righted. The girl isn’t out for long, she wakes up just as I set her down on the couch. She looks up into my eyes with such intensity that it sends shivers of anticipation up my spine.

“Who are you, do I know you?” Her voice comes out strong though I know that blow to the head must have given her a pretty good concussion.

“My name is Noah,” I tell her, her eyes flit from me to Sally and Chris then back to me as she looks up at me with a lost, confused look.

“Noah.” She repeated trying out my name, in the way she says it I know that it is possible that she is experiencing some memory loss.

“What’s your name?” I question her kindly, I know in my heart I should feel sad and unhappy that this isn’t Hannah, yet, I can’t seem to find such emotions.

The girl closes her eyes and pinches her brows together as she thinks.

’Dusk.’ - A voice says in my mind but I ignore it as it’s weird, why would I think that?

“Dusk, my name is Dusk.” She smiles excited that she has remembered her own name.

Dusk is an unusual name but it suits her as her black hair falls across her face and into her eyes that continue to flit around as she takes in her surroundings. Dusk does something a little weird, I see her nose twitch and it’s almost as if she is sniffing the place. I take a quick sniff of myself to see if it’s because I stink but as far as I can tell I don’t. I just bookmark the action as weird and an aftereffect of the pain her head must be in.

“Am I supposed to know you? I feel like I am.” She asks suddenly as she looks up at me again than past me and her eyes cloud as she tries to remember.

“No, I found you passed out in an alleyway and I brought you back here. I thought maybe you were someone else.” I tell her honestly as I see her eyes moving around again as if she is scanning the place.

“Sorry, I’m not your daughter or your girl,” Dusk says blandly but honestly and the three of us share a look trying to figure out how the heck she knew that since they have taken all the pictures of Hannah down due to the heartache they cause.

This girl must just be one smart cookie as she figures things out faster than most other people would have even come close to. Chris nods at us before he leads Sally away as she looks at Dusk in pure disappointment curling into Chris’s arms to cry. Dusk looks away from them as they leave the room, she focuses over me and on the TV behind me as the stories continue.

“My head, it aches a little.” She states and I look at her surprised that she hasn’t admitted that her head must pound like a bastard.

“Do you want any medicine or anything for it?” I question and her eyes meet mine as she gives me that clouded, confused look again.

“Medicine, what’s medicine?” Dusk murmurs as she looks at me waiting for me to give her an answer, I have to take a step back.

“Do you seriously not know what medicine is?” I prod her causing her to laugh which in turn causes her to wince and press her palm to her forehead.

“I was joking, I’ll take a pass on the medicine, I’ll heal.” Dusk mumbles as she cozies back up into the couch, she presses her body into the softness of its comfort.

“I should probably leave you to rest,” I state though oddly the idea of leaving her sends a zap of discomfort through me.

“Please, don’t. I can’t remember anything but, I feel safe with you here, so please, stay!” She bursts suddenly as she looks at me in earnest as she glances around the room nervously before settling deeper into the couch trying to hide away from the world.

I nod and settle back down on the couch beneath Dusk as she breathes in and out at an odd rate until her breaths become shallow and steady. She has fallen asleep again, I keep an eye on her as she reminds me of a nervous house dog. Dusk squirms a lot and cries out sometimes as she sleeps, she has too many bad dreams for me to keep count as she goes through one after another. At one point she grabs onto my arm as if she is holding onto her life and I swear her grip is so strong that she is going to break my arm, I had to free myself from her clutch in order to save my arm. I sigh as I settle back laying my head back, when sleep finally catches up to me again I don’t have nightmares and I manage to sleep steadily for the first time in forever as wolves plague my dreams. Particularly one with the same green eyes as before, sleep is blissful for once.