Chapter 10 - Time to Go Home [https://cdn.midjourney.com/5f9d2fc3-322c-4d9f-b76a-38a243277f92/0_2.png]

Fresh horror washed over Kennedy. “I don’t want anybody keeping me. Take me back to town so I can get my stuff. I want to go home.”

As Terry poured the dirty water over the edge of the porch, the sky behind him began to turn purple. He said, “Danger.” He gestured to her ankle.

Ignoring his warning, Kennedy said, “The hell you say. It’s just a cut. Maybe a backwoods Vet can’t heal me, but we have med stops at home. Hospitals.” Uneasy, she stood up and took a step back. Along the tree line, she heard a deep growl in the distance. Branches snapped.

Instead of looking at the tree line, his mother watched the velvet blue of the early morning sky. Daylight was coming. “You should let her go, son. She’s gonna die or go crazy. The Lost are not people. That girl is not a Shepard.” She started another cigarette. “Drive her back to town. What does it matter? You know how this ends.”

He struck the wall of the cabin with the flat of his hand, making a loud sound his mother ignored. Impatiently, he made a low guttural noise and a soft growl, forming a cadence that Kennedy realized with a start was a language she had never heard. The rhythms and patterns made her think of a folk song she’d listened to in her childhood. One of the few things she had learned in her week of asking questions was that her parent’s tattoos weren’t from any Native American Nation local to the area.

With her face twisted in distaste, his mother looked at him. “Don’t talk to me like that, reminding me of old dead things. We are dying, and our language should die with us.”

As he continued speaking the low guttural sounds, he lightly touched his mother’s shoulder, trying to persuade her.

In case they were planning something, Kennedy eased down the steps toward the truck.

His mother said, “Take her where she wants to go, Terry. Let the girl decide her own fate.”

The Vet let out a deep frustrated sigh. His voice when he spoke the language was rich and sexy with a low rumble.

His mother nodded. “I’ll be here.”

When he entered the house, the door loudly smacked shut behind him. Kennedy tried the handle on the passenger side of the truck. Fuck yeah, the vehicle was unlocked. She got in. Luckily, the keys hung from the ignition. If she was sober, she could drive herself into town. The sky was bleeding purple and pink. Her head was hurting. She reached out and fingered the four keys. A metal bear held them together. Why did these hillbillies obsess about bears?

When the Vet got in the truck, he didn’t acknowledge her.

“I didn’t properly thank you earlier tonight.” With one hand on the dash, she half turned toward him. Looking ahead, he snapped his seat belt in place.

“Things had gone sour. Moonshine was a new one for me.” Nothing, he just sat there. She waited, unsure. Turning to her, he frowned and pointed at her seat belt. When she fastened it, he turned on the truck and they backed out.

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His voice was gravel. “Stupid.”

“Going with them was stupid. I was being reckless. Haven’t you ever been reckless in your life?”

He slanted his gaze at her, blue eyes flashing with anger. “Dead girl.”

“Now you listen here. One night of being stupid doesn’t mean I’m suicidal. I’m not a dead girl.”

With gritted teeth, he swerved around the bend too fast, and the back tire broke free. Turning into the slide, he righted their trajectory. He spun his finger around the side of his head in a sign even she recognized as the gesture for crazy.

“I’m not crazy.”

He arched one brow.

“I can get a tetanus shot. I just freaked out when he cut my ankle.”

He frowned. His driving smoothed out as they reached the dirt road. “Split.” He drew a line up the side of his body. “Soon.”

As long as he went slowly with his words, she could understand him. “I promise I won’t see them again. You don’t need to worry. I’m getting on a bus as fast as I can.” The line of her tattoo itched as they talked. Was he trying to scare her? He could be touched in the head. When he tapped the glass, gesturing to the faint moon, she pressed her shoulder to the door.

“Itch?” He asked.

“I have allergies. They are worse here. Worried?”

With a nod, he crossed his heart and held up his hand in a Boy Scout gesture. “Need a healer.” He tugged up the leg of his jeans with one hand and she could see the thick line of his own tattoo.

“Your Mom doesn’t have one of those. Why do you?”

He shrugged and tapped his mouth.

Before she came to the mountain, she had imagined guys who fish and sinewy wives with babies on their hips. The moonshine dancing and sex with strangers had been unexpected. Nor had she thought of the possibility of a lunatic, part mute, giant Vet, hero nut job, who appeared in the night and worried about her.

In daylight, the town looked less tragic, but still tiny. There was only one hotel, and he drove her there. With the vacancy sign blinking endlessly, the worn building needed more than a fresh coat of paint. Only a desperate person would stay here. As soon as they stopped, he took a slip of paper and wrote.

When he handed it to her, he had printed his name and number, followed by, “Get out of town. Men are going to look for you.”

After she had read what he wrote, he retrieved the paper. He pointed at her ankle and scribbled on the back. “That’s going to get worse. Might kill you.” She read over his arm. “You need a healer from the mountain, one of our kind. When you stop being stupid, text me. I’ll take you.” He tapped his phone number with the pen.

She patted his arm as if he was simple or mad. “Thank you very much.”

When he folded the paper and handed it to her, she took it, mostly to cut the exchange short. The folks here lived in a complicated delusion, and she didn’t want to join them. Even if he was handsome, she planned to lose his number fast. She slid out of the truck and headed to the hotel.

When Kennedy swung through the heavy glass door, it creaked unhappily. Red hair stiff with hairspray, the lady behind the counter smiled a plastic smile in her direction. “I see Doc Terry brought you home. Don’t remember him being the fellow you left with last night.” The hotel was connected to the bar. Last night, the ready access to alcohol had been the place’s only positive feature.

Kennedy had no time for gossip. “That isn’t your business.” She stepped up to the scarred counter. “I need to cancel the next two nights. I won’t be staying.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. The boys will be sad. We don’t get your kind in town much.” She offered more plastic smiles that were framed in too much red lipstick. “There aren’t many folks that go into proper heat anymore.” She sniffed. “Could smell you the first day you arrived.”

Kennedy recoiled. She drew back from the counter. “I better not see the canceled nights on my card.”

“No, Mam.” The lady gave her a wink. “We don’t cheat kin.”

Creepy ass town. Kennedy headed through the narrow hallway to her dingy room and unlocked the door. Apparently, she reeked of sex and moonshine. She needed a shower and five minutes to pack. Coming here had been a mistake.