WILLOW MANOR

Chapter Twenty

Katie stood in front of the refrigerator with the door open. Her eyes travelled over the plastic tubs and glass jars. She felt restless, unfulfilled in some way. Her brain interpreted that as hunger. She moved a jar of pickles from one shelf to another and sighed.

Clarissa couldn't remember what had happened, and Katie and Bill had made matching statements to the police. But Marcus Jones had made it clear he didn't believe them. What if Clarissa eventually remembered everything? What if she remembered the vampire? What if she remembered the werewolf? What if she told Officer Jones the truth? What if Clarissa's story contradicted hers and Bill's? What would Jones do then? Will she and Bill have targets on their backs, just like Walter?

Clarissa was out of danger, and that was, of course, the most important thing. However, Katie's relief at Davicus being gone was replaced by a new set of fears. Bill had killed Davicus. But just because Davicus was a vampire, that didn't mean there wouldn't be someone who would miss him. Did he have a family? He must have, or he wouldn't have been able to blend with regular humans. What happened when his family determined the last place Davicus was on this earth was Willow Manor?

An even worse fear kept working its way into her brain, though. She had originally thought that Davicus must be responsible for all the murders in town, that surely those would stop now that the vampire was destroyed. But the more she thought about it, the less she was convinced. Of course, Clarissa had bite marks on her neck, but she was not torn open like the other victims. All the reports said those people looked like they had been ripped limb from limb.

Like a werewolf had attacked them.

"Can I help you, Miss Gallagher?" A man's voice from directly behind startled her and she jumped.

"Oh, Archie! You surprised me." She laughed nervously at her overreaction. "You were so quiet!"

The old man shrugged and stepped back. He studied her face. "I wasn't that quiet. You were just very interested in pickles, I guess."

She could see he wasn't fooled. He could tell she was frightened. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"No, not interested in pickles at all." She laughed, trying to calm herself. She grabbed a soda and shut the door. "I just can't decide what it is I want to eat."

"You can't still be hungry." Archie looked slightly offended. "Let me fix you something."

"No. I'm not really hungry, I guess." Katie took a sip of the soda to hide her flushed face. "Maybe just thirsty."

Archie narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Or maybe you're still upset about Miss Clarissa and what happened."

Katie looked down at the can and nodded quietly. The old man was a believer, she knew from all her previous conversations with him. She knew she could talk to him and he would accept it, without question. Still, she couldn't bring herself to voice her fears. Saying it out loud would add to its credibility, make it harder to dismiss from her thoughts. She needed to stop thinking about it. Bill was a friend—her best friend.

"What happened out there?" His voice dropped to a whisper and that somehow made Katie more reluctant to tell him. "You see something?"

Katie shook her head. She didn't believe Bill could hurt anyone. She would not voice that fear. She would just stick to the story she told Officer Jones. "That man was trying to take Clarissa."

"You saw a wolf." Archie was not fooled.

How did he know? Did he suspect something? She tried to hide her sudden panicked thoughts by shrugging. "A man tried to take Clarissa."