Legacy

Chapter Twenty Two - Gentleman

That night, Eileen slept in her own bed for what felt the like the first time in forever. Everything felt and smelled familiar, which lured her into sleep. Before she could drift, though, she caught a sliver of light hitting the floorboards.

Cracking her eyes open farther, Eileen craned her head back. Deciding the light source wasn’t going to fade, Eileen rolled to her knees and pushed the curtains aside, squinting until her eyes adjusted. The light fell across the stream boundary line and led all the way to Gray’s house: the entire upstairs was lit up like some kind of strange birthday cake.

With a sigh, Eileen grabbed some shoes but didn’t change out of her pajamas: hopefully it would be a quick visit.

She didn’t even know what time it was. The moon was high in the sky, beautiful and luminous. Everyone else had gone to bed, so there were no inquisitive looks as she walked down the stairs and out the door. The tall grass tickled her exposed ankles.

Out of curiosity, when she reached his house she tried the door. It swung open, so she proceeded in, heading up the stairs and making sure to stomp her feet. He’d probably heard the squeaky door hinges but it was better safe than sorry with werewolves and their nerves.

Sure enough, he wasn’t startled when he saw her standing in the doorway of his bedroom. He wasn’t in pajamas, yet his clothes looked comfortable for lounging. He’d set up a desk in the corner and sat at it, leaning over some sort of book. Eileen approached slowly when he didn’t tell her to leave and looked over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she asked quietly.

“Reading. What are you doing?” he asked, looking her over. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Shouldn’t you?” Eileen countered, resting a hip against the edge of the desk. “I could see your light all the way in my room. Figured I’d come check on you.”

He nodded, looking guilty. “Thanks,” he muttered, touching her hand briefly. “If you want to head back I’ll turn the light off soon. I don’t want to keep you up.”

As tired as Eileen was, he’d already kept her up. “I’m here now,” she said. “I’d rather know what you’re working on.” She studied the pages in front of him, noting the hue: faded, aged, and rustic, the characteristics of The Legacy.

“I’m just doing research,” he muttered.

He was on the page with silver. He turned the page under Eileen’s watchful eye, and Eileen studied the next image: another page dealing with silver. A hand outstretched, burning at the touch, but more severely than the original tale. Below, a wolf’s skeletal remains were depicted, and below that—

“Nothing,” Eileen breathed, finger tracing where the page cut off.

Blinking, he followed her finger’s path. “Well, they already depicted death. I don’t think there’s much to say after that.”

“This concerns you,” Eileen said in awe, realizing it was talking about a more severe reaction to silver that could cause death. She looked to him in wonder. “How do you not wonder what comes after? Maybe it’s about the cure!”

Despite her excitement, he said nothing.

Confused, Eileen looked to him and then down to the next page. She didn’t know what this one was talking about immediately: it wasn’t as clear as the silver reaction. Slowly it dawned on her that dead people surrounded a lone wolf.

Below, sharp, stained teeth leered near a small girl.

And at the bottom, the two of them embraced, the wolf’s head massive against the tiny girl’s back: he hadn’t killed her. Eileen stared at the picture for a few more moments, not really understanding. Then she looked to Gray, hoping her thoughts were wrong.