Whispers of the Wolf

His Comfort

Radley

I stared out of the kitchen window, my mind whirling, my body shivering. The warm cup of coffee in my hands didn't help soothe the chill in my body, even as I took a small sip. I was barely aware of the heat of the cup stinging my sore fingers.

The rain from this morning had given way to sunny, yet cold, skies. Even now, the late afternoon sun was poking through the trees that surrounded the back garden, casting a soft golden light onto the neat lawn. We didn't really bother much with flowers - because the house was surrounded by trees, there weren't many flowers that would grow in their shadows.

Taking a deep breath, I sighed. I wasn't even sure what to think any more. To begin with, I had been scared, worried ... But now ... Now, I just felt confused.

Watching as Leo had broken down in front of me earlier ... that had stirred something inside me. I couldn't stop thinking about how upset he had been. I mean, I knew that Tala was popular, well liked, but I hadn't known how deep the love for her ran. It seemed like everyone in the town was grieving for her, everyone taking her death on a personal level.

The fact that quite a few people had been gathered outside of the coffee shop to remember her, knowing that the shop was the place she had worked in, had been the place that most people knew her.

It ... struck a chord, hit me deep, brought tears to my eyes. I felt ... sad. Even though I wouldn't really call us friends, I couldn't stop feeling like a hole had been carved through me, one that couldn't be filled with anything, or by anyone, else.

By now, I had almost forgotten about the blood on my hands last night ... almost. The memory was still there, burned into my mind, wanting my attention. But I still had no explanation about it. And I didn't really want to give it too much thought.

Racking my brain, I just couldn't think where the blood had come from. Who it had come from.

And going into town, hearing about Tala, feeling the town's grief ... my mind had exploded, with ice cold guilt snaking around my heart, squeezing the life out of it. Out of me.

Yet, the more I thought about the blood, about Tala, the more I just couldn't link the two together. It didn't make any sense. I mean, I was pretty sure I would remember... killing... someone.

A shiver ran along my spine and I wiped at my eyes, feeling the wet tear tracks trickling down my cheeks. Sniffing, I took a sip of coffee, allowing the warm liquid to spread throughout my body, while casting my eyes across the lawn of the back garden, watching as the shadows stretched in the lowering sunlight.

Claudia was in the living room, watching a movie on the TV. She had been upset when I told what I'd learned in the town. She had asked me how Tala had died, but I couldn't tell her. I didn't know that myself. Leo hadn't told me anything of how she had died ... just that she'd been attacked. Whatever that meant.

But that had helped me believe that I'd had nothing to do with it, though it still didn't explain why I had blood on my hands to begin with.

Movement near to the treeline surrounding the back garden caught my attention and I squinted.

What was that?

My eyes searched the trees, darting in between the trunks, looking for anything that was moving ... an animal ... fallen leaves ... a human.

A human?

Blinking, I watched as Orion slipped from one tree to the other, his eyes on the house.

Wait ... what?

Putting my coffee cup on the kitchen table behind me, I went to the back door and opened it, just as he darted behind another tree.

What was he doing?