88: You Want The Truth?

With Mystic Moon responsibilities, I get ready and head to the shop. The city is noisey and filled with careless people. It’s refreshing compared to the city streets that I saw in that dream. Whatever happens or doesn’t, hasn’t happened yet...hopefully it never will.

There’s a sense of relief that washes over me as I enter Mystic. No matter how much goes on in my head, in the real world, I know I can count on the comfort that Mystic brings. The people bring. It’s only Gretchen again.

She stands behind the counter, but unlike before she makes a mad dash for me. She squeezes me into a hug, but it feels more like a death grip. “You didn’t come back like you said you would and I got worried. What is going on?”

“One of the wolves got cursed. We have an idea who did it, but I have no idea how to fix it. Maybe you do.”

The color washes from her face as she hears my words. She takes several steps away from me before she speaks.“Curses are tricky and...they shouldn’t be tampered with.”

“I know, but-”

She cuts my words short. “I’ll see what I can do, but the pack will have to seek a witch that specializes in curses. I’ll speak with Marcus when I have the time.” I’ve never known her to brush off problems. Is something wrong that she’s not telling me? “Now, I have clients all day today and as soon as Monty comes back she’ll be booked solid, but...I have a few lined up for you in a few days.” She stops dead in her tracks and looks me in the eye, “if that’s okay.”

My head bobs up and down, my mouth mumbles a pathetic ‘yes’. I haven’t had the greatest client encounters to date, but should that stop me from trying. Maybe, more so than not. But my head keeps bobbing and another ‘yes’ whispers from my lips.

Gretchen quickly leaves me with the front end of the shop. The day goes by in a blur. A few customers wander the aisles, a few more come, a few more go. A few purchase items and some just browse. I assemble more bundles of smudge sticks and fill the shelves I had picked out for them.

When Gretchen finally comes out of her office with the word ‘freedom’ on her lips, I take that as my unsaid cue that my day is done. The sun is still up, but just barely. It’ll be set within an hour or two. And I have this nagging feeling that I won’t make it to Phillip’s before it’s dark.

Gretchen knows that I’m up to something, but she bites her tongue and lets me leave when the cab pulls up front. Her concern only puts doubt in my bones. It makes me second guess going and seeking out trouble. But I have to speak with Gabriel on my terms, not his, and surprising him is my advantage. An advantage that may hold consequences.

I might be seeking some truth, but I’m not entirely sure it’s a truth I want to hear.

***

The cab ride is long and tense, but the roads start to look familiar and my heart starts skipping beats. True to my gut, the sun sets before we pull into the driveway.

I stay standing outside looking at the large mansion of a house when the cab peels away spitting up gravel as it goes. The windows are dark with thick curtains and the silence that fills my ears leaves an eerie feeling that burrows painfully into every bone of my body.

I remember this place, I just don’t know where I’ve seen it or when I’ve seen it or why I would have seen it let alone remember it with such vividness. Completely lost in thought, my feet move on their own accord, my fist knocks on the door.

The door quickly creaks open and my eyes shift from the house to the vampire that now stands before me.

His eyes bear down on me. “Let me guess.” He waves his hand up and down the length of my body. “Tiny, little witch. Brown hair and green eyes. Hazel.” Hey says my name unimpressed and not surprised. “ Here for Gabriel?”

A small mutter of a whisper slips from my lips in reply. He talks about me? I follow him in, gently closing the door behind me.

“He’s upstairs.” The vampire says as he puts a foot on the first step.

“I know where it is.” My words bring him to a stop.

Now, he’s the one to mumble under his breath, “whatever,” he says before leaving me at the foot of the steps.

I begin to panic. I said I know where it is, but do I? One step at a time, my mind blank and racing. It takes a moment for the steps to come to me. I take a right at the top of the steps and proceed to pass doors. I pass one door, two doors, five doors down, I come to a stop. My knuckles tapping against the wood feel like a death sentence for some reason. A sickening feeling comes over me.

But it disappears when Gabriel opens the door and stares at me with wide eyes. My name said in hushed shock. His fingers quickly, tightly wrap around my forearm yanking me inside, the door clips my heel as he closes it. His anxiety gives me a headache.

“What are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Gabriel rattles off questions, but not a single one questions how I got here or how I knew where to come. Maybe vampire groupies find this place all the time, so it’s not shocking to see people show up on your doorstep that you never told the address to.

“What business does Phillip have with werewolves?”

He pauses. He pauses for a very long time, too long of a time. Then there’s the slight shake to his head, his lips forming his usual response. So, I tell him what he refuses to tell me. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with vampires and werewolves and who knows what else ravaging the streets, would it?”

His mouth parts and closes and opens like a fish out of water gasping for breath. “He wouldn’t ravage the streets. Why do you think he would?” His words are abrupt and sharp.

“I saw it .” I still see it, still feel it.

There’s this flash of recognition on his face. He closes the space between his, his hands clasping around mine. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You know that right?” He knows all too well he can’t continue to lie or hide important details from me when I’m capable of seeing things, so he pours on the charm.

“You can’t control everyone.” This causes him to clench his jaw. Does the truth make him angry? “Maybe you have sway over Phillip, the wolves...but…” What do I say? Who do I say? From my dream, not every vampire will fall in line. But what about demons? I don’t need the realm to know that there will definitely be no controlling them. But something else entirely comes out, “what about Brooklynn?”

“What about Brooklynn?”

Does he not know or doesn’t he care? “What about things that aren’t directed at me, but others...like my friends.” That wolf wasn’t my friend, but it falls onto Caleb and Caleb’s wellbeing falls onto me. “She cursed a wolf within the Midnight Harrows.”

Gabriel’s shoulders relax and his stern lips loosen. “Caleb?”

“Not him, but one of his pack. She could kill the entire den if-”

His eyes narrow at me as I say the words. His question cuts my words short. “How do you know she’s cursed?”

“Caleb thought that she was possessed, so he brought me there to help her.”

“And he could have gotten you killed in the process.” He snaps. One of his hands slips from mine to slide through his messy locks clearly pissed at what’s played out.
I slide my hand that remains in his grasp free, breaking his hold on me all together. “Are you admitting you know what she did?”

“No,” the word is firm and sounds honest, “because if I did, I would’ve made sure you wouldn’t have had the chance to go with him.” He lets out a sigh as if the words he’s about to say is something I don’t want to hear. “I can’t take Brooklynn back without causing a full out war between us.” His hands grab onto me again tugging me closer to him. “I can’t control what they do with her. They saw an opportunity to use her talents to their benefit, but they know you are off limits and that’s all the matters.”

“But Caleb-”

His lips smash into a thin, stern line. He can only hold back his words for so long. “And Caleb should know not to get you involved in pack business. His reckless behavior is bound to get you killed.”

“You mean take a hint from you and just keep me clueless on what’s going on? I’m not some little witch like so many people think I am. I can handle myself.”

The pain, the anger on his face dissolves. “I never said you couldn’t.”

“Then tell me what Phillip is planning.”

“You want the truth?” He asks and I nod my head all too eager. “You already know it,” he whispers in my ear. “It’s all in here,” he says as his finger taps my temple ever so gently.

Every thought, every emotion races through my head, my body. Gabriel is right. I do know it and no matter what Gabriel said before, I know the truth. Phillip will ravage the streets and make them his own.

I don’t hear Gabriel talk at first, but voice burrows into my head. “With our alliance with the wolves and his coven, Phillip will be-”

“Top dog.” The words tumble out of my numb lips.

There’s a hint of a smile on his face. “In one week’s time, we won’t have to hide anymore. Humans will realize that they’re not at the top of the food chain. It’ll make us royalty.”

That king card flashes in my mind's eye. Was Monty right? But I’m not hiding. I’m not moving to the top of the food chain. Is that why my heart is beating uncontrollably, rattling around recklessly inside my rib cage.

Gabriel might be right. It might give him, Phillip, an unhealthy amount of power, but with power comes blood and when Phillip puts his plans in motion, there will be lots of blood. The true question is, will I have that blood on my hands?