"Eleanor, I need you to stay away from me." He says as he holds tight onto my hand. I look up at him in confusion and hurt. No hint of anger is in his eyes.
"What, why?" I ask, voice breaking.
"I just need you to trust me okay? I don't want you to g...
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I try and stay calm while the kettle boils on the stove. Despite everything I had learned today, the fact that Isaac Lahey was in my home and taking a shower in my bathroom may have been the strangest part. Or maybe it wasn't, but it was the most tangible and realistic of everything. I busied myself by brewing two cups of peppermint tea for us. I thought of Isaac getting out of the shower and putting on the pair of sweatpants and T-shirt I stole from my Dad's closet for him, then I cooled down the tea with a splash of milk. By the time I got to my room Isaac had already sat down on the bed. I just stare at him for a moment, noticing he looks much calmer now than he had been when I first opened the door. He is holding a frame in his hand and I felt my cheeks pink at the sight.
"I miss this," he says, putting the frame down on the floor without looking up to me. I glance over at the photo of us and Camden from the year before he had died. We were camping out in the woods with Mr. Lahey, smiling over a campfire.
"Here," I say, handing him a cup of tea, "It might make you feel a bit better."
"You still keep your room a mess I see," He says, eyes wandering over to the pile of letters on the floor. I panic, not realizing that I had left them out.
"Yeah," I respond with a surprisingly level voice, "But do you want to tell me what happened? Should we be calling the police? Are you okay?"
"I just," He starts, and then trails off, taking a sip of the tea.
"Just what?" I ask gently
"Eleanor if I try and explain any of this you are just going to think I'm crazy." he admits, shaking his head
Having spent the better part of today full immersed in crazy, I respond, "Try me."
"Okay," He says, "I don't even know how to begin this... but wait, do you remember what you said the other day? About how we used to play in the woods and pretend we were--"
"Werewolves?" I interrupt him.
He meets my eyes as if begging me to understand, but doesn't say a word. During his pause my mind goes back to the night I spent in the motel with Caitlin. I think back to what she had been saying about the girl with glowing eyes and fangs. The puzzle pieces of the last few weeks finally start to fit. My heart starts racing and I look up at Isaac, who is sat looking back at the photo on the floor wistfully.
"Isaac," I say, and he looks back to me, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yes," he says, blue eyes not leaving mine
"You know Caitlin from our cross country team? The other night at the motel she told me she saw you in the woods."
"What else did she say?" He asks, voice shaking.
"She said you were fighting with a girl who had fangs and claws and glowing eyes."
I feel the room tense. Isaac doesn't say a word, but just stares at me with wide eyes. I don't know how to break the silence, so instead I get up off the bed and walk over to the nest of letters. I search the pile for the last one I had read, and when I find it I hand it to a now standing Isaac. I hold my breath as he reads the words on the letter. His eyes are darting back and forth on the page, and I can see his mind putting together the pieces. When I gets to the end I half expect him to laugh in my face, but he doesn't.
