Greykin Mountain

| 7 | Nightfall

          "To be forgotten?"

          "To be dismissed, ignored, treated like you don't matter. Everyone back in Dawnward wants to bury their disappearances—they all act like you. People go missing; get over it. I won't get over it, and I won't forget them," he said firmly, and when Damon raised an eyebrow, he didn't let himself become intimidated. Maybe if he told Damon the whole truth, he might help him find them. "I know they're out here...and I'll find them. They'd do the same for me...he would do the same for me."

          Damon's interest was evidently piqued. Curiosity gleamed in his eyes. "So, one of them means something to you—more than the rest?"

          Jackson looked down at his lap and sighed. "Yeah. Wilson. He and I went to college together. He was the only person that stuck by me when my family disowned me—we did pretty much everything together; finished college, skipped university, and got into his uncle's press company. Which is another thing I don't really get—Wilson's his nephew, yet he's brushing off his disappearance as much as everyone else."

          "Maybe his uncle is smart enough to know that once you're missing out here, you're missing forever. But you can't seem to accept that."

          "Why do you think that?"

          "Because it's true. No one leaves Greykin. You're an example of that."

          "No, I'm not."

          "You came here, you got bit, you tried to leave, and here you are." He looked around. "You're a part of Greykin."

          He sighed heavily and tried not to give into his tire-induced frustration. "So, they could be wolf walkers too?"

          "Not likely. Wolf walkers don't turn humans very often."

          "What about the zombie ones?"

          "They don't bite humans."

          "But one bit me."

          "And I found you. My wolves patrol Greykin often and we've never found a bite-turned-wolf wandering around on their own. If your missing people were bitten, it must have happened in a part of Greykin we haven't yet been to. But again, it's not likely. They either got lost and froze to death or were had by Deltas."

          "Deltas?"

          "A type of wolf walker with no humanity—they're not like us. Their wolf has a mind of its own."

          Jackson nodded slowly. If he were interested in learning more about wolf walkers, he might ask him to elaborate. But right now, his main focus was finding out everything he could about Greykin. If he could find out where Damon hadn't been, then maybe he could find his way there and start looking for leads. "Which parts of Greykin haven't you been to?"

          "Valley, Meadow, Sheer, and Depths."

          He had no idea where any of those places were. "Are...you going to any of those places?"

          "No, and if I were, it wouldn't be to find your people. Forget about them. They're gone. You're here now and your main priority should be learning how to control your wolf before you shift and kill someone else. You also need to learn to defend yourself."

          He was about to say he didn't care about his wolf, but he did. It was what he was now. He didn't want to kill anyone else, and if he was going to survive out here...if he was going to be able to fight those zombies like Damon had, he would have to learn. He looked down at the snow and sighed quietly. "So, you're gonna help me?"