Unspoken│Roman Godfrey

iii. wolf boy

Everything was dark. 

I was aware I was somewhere, but unsure where. 

Suddenly, I could see a pair of eyes. Only a pair of bright yellow, menacing eyes that sent a chill down my spine. Nobody, just those pair of eyes. Unblinking, simply staring at me. I felt exposed- like whoever- whatever- was behind those eyes knew everything about me, who I was, what I knew- what I'd seen and thought. 

It wasn't long before the eyes developed a body, shrinking in size, they turned from a bright yellow to a pale green- much like cat eyes- only now, they were attached to a body. A cross between what seemed to be a dragon and a snake, only its own tail rested in its mouth. 

I'd seen this before. I remember reading about it. 

An ouroboros. A symbol originating in Egypt representing eternal life, or rebirth, in a way. 

Then, just as quickly as it came, it was gone. 

In its place stood a crow. This time, with the same piercing yellow eyes as I'd seen before. It turned its head to me, opening its mouth and letting out a penetrative squawk. In the background, I could hear church bells. Ringing repeatedly, getting louder each time, as did the squawking of the crow. Suddenly, it took off, and became dozens upon dozens of crows, flying in my direction- until they were gone. All that remained was a light so bright I had to squint my eyes- if I even had eyes. 

When they refocused, a shadow had blocked the light. A seraphim. I remember reading about them once. I counted six wings- two uncrossed at the top, two crossed in the middle, and two crossed at the bottom. It was dark due to the bright light shining behind it, but I could make it out nonetheless. 

Then, it was gone. The light shone brightly once again and continued to get brighter. I found myself in bed, the bright light had been the light peeking through my window. The clock on my bedside table read 8:05, meaning I was running late. Extremely late. 

By the time I'd finished getting ready it was nearing eight twenty-five. I was practically hopping down the stairs as I tried to pull on my shoes. 

Indie was seated at the kitchen counter, listening to the radio as I rushed into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee. 

Indie, what the hell are you doing? We're gonna be-" 

"Shh." She said, harshly. "Listen." I rolled my eyes as I poured the steaming liquid into a to-go cup, but listened to the female voice on the radio regardless. 

"-A young student was found killed and partially disemboweled earlier this morning in Kilberry Park of Hemlock Grove-"

"Oh my god." I gasped. "Do they know who it was?" 

Indie looked at me- guiltily, almost.

"Indie... who was it?" She bit her lip, switching off the radio and taking a deep breath. 

"Brooke Bluebell." My face faltered. I wasn't all that close with Brooke, but she was captain of the cheer team and was pretty much friends with everyone. She was always so kind to me. 

"You're kidding." I muttered. Indie shook her head, standing up from her seat and pulling me into a hug. 

"I'm so sorry, Stevie." I sighed, pulling away from her after a moment. 

"Me, too." 

----------------------

The school was a mess. People were crying and hugging each other in the hallways, most of which had never said a word to Brooke.

The police had speculated that an animal had attacked her- though Indie had told me she heard Brooke had practically been ripped apart. It was hard to believe an animal could do that to her-or a human, honestly. 

I had decided on taking lunch to think. There was a lot to process. 

I had discovered the boy from the day before's name- Peter. Rumancek. Apparently, he'd just moved here with his mother. Also, there was a rumor speculating that he was a werewolf in hiding- interesting, but not the craziest thing I'd heard today by a long shot. I took a drag of the cigarette between my fingers 

"Got room for one more?" Someone asked. I turned to see Peter making his way over to me. 

"You're not gonna eat me, are you?" 

He laughed softly, looking to the ground then back up at me. "I assume you've heard the rumors, then." He said, leaning against the short wall on which I sat. I offered him the cigarette, which he took with a nod of his head as a thank-you. 

"Yeah. There are quite a few, actually." 

"Really? Tell me." 

"You sure you wanna know?" 

"Humor me." He said, passing back the cigarette. 

"People are saying you killed her." 

"Really?" Peter asked. I nodded. He didn't seem to be all that surprised at the new information. "I heard the same about you." 

"Are you serious?" I asked. He nodded. 

"Something about you wanting to be captain of the cheer team." 

"Jesus. What bullshit." I said. "I didn't, for the record." I added, letting the cigar burn the back of my throat before passing it back to Peter. It was weird that we were being so casual considering this was the first we'd talked to each other, but for some reason, he had this familiarity about him- like I'd known him all my life. 

"Yeah, I have my own list of suspects." 

"Pretty sure everyone does." I replied. Peter tilted his head in agreement. "I'm Stevie." I held out my hand to him, a formal introduction. 

"I know." I narrowed my eyes teasingly. "I mean- most people do." He added, reaching out to shake my hand. His hands were rough and calloused- also stubby. 

"Right. Can I ask you something?" 

"Go ahead." 

"If you heard that people thought I killed her- why'd you come to talk to me?"

"There are two sides to every story, Stevie. And I'm interested in yours." 

"Really?" I asked, eyebrows raised. 

"I don't think you killed her- but I had to make sure." 

"And why's that?" 

"Because I'm gonna find out who did." 

"Is that so?" I asked. Peter nodded as if he'd never been so sure of anything. I couldn't help the feeling that there was something else, something he wasn't saying- that served as a reason why he'd come to talk to me. I eyed him warily, but decided to let it go. 

"Stevie?" I looked up from Peter to where Jackson was standing a few feet away from us. 

"Jackson." I forced a smile due to how painfully tense the air immediately became. 

"I've been looking for you everywhere. Why weren't you in the cafeteria?" 

"Just..." I stuttered, glancing at Peter, then back to Jackson. "thinking." 

"Well, come on. Class is starting soon." 

"Yeah, okay." I agreed, jumping down from my position on the wall. "Bye, Peter." 

Peter gave me a salute as I made my way over to Jackson. He threw an arm over my shoulder protectively as we started to walk away.

"You shouldn't be talking to that guy, Stevie." He said, most definitely loudly enough for Peter to hear. 

"Why not? You don't know him." I retorted, glancing back at Peter, who was still watching us walk away. 

"Exactly."