Foxblood: Rise of the Hellion (WattyAward 2012 Finalist)

Part Ten

Respite from the night’s rain was all too brief, and the day soon became wet again.

Beth had gone out with Nick.

Todd hadn’t bothered to emerge from his sleeping bag, and consequentially, a mouldy odour had begun to permeate the room.

Mum was pretending to read a book, but I caught her staring off into space on more than one occasion, and she’d been sick in the bathroom too. She was obviously nervous about her new job.

Seb finally turned up late afternoon. I was relieved to see him, but my anger took over. I’d been trying to get in touch with him all day. I took advantage of a gap in the showers to pull him onto the balcony, out of earshot.

“Where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you answer my texts?”

“Yeah, sorry. Must’ve lost my phone last night.”

Like I believed that. “So what did you find out?

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? What do you mean nothing?” How could they have been out all night and drawn a blank?

“Nothing conclusive. We found the campsite, near Lyall Ridge, where the original attack took place. Scents led out in all directions but ended where the corpses had clearly fallen. Couldn’t get a proper trail.”

“So, whatever it was killed the people and then vanished into thin air?”

“Looks like it.”

“Kinda like you then?”

“What?”

“Your kind. They disappear on the spot.”

“Sophie, you don’t think?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

Sebastian paced the length of the railings. “I can’t believe you don’t trust me after all this time.”

“I don’t see you offering an alternative.”

“I don’t have one…yet. Roc has this theory about hell hounds, but I have my doubts.”

“Why?”

He paused and leant on the balustrade. “Hell hounds aren’t thinkers. They follow orders, you know, from down below. They usually only leave the Thirteenth to collect wayward souls. It would be unusual for them to be here at all, never mind going on a killing rampage of innocents. Something doesn’t gel for me. I’m keeping an open mind.”

That was more than I was doing, and with the pending full moon, I needed to ensure that the boys couldn’t be blamed for anything that might occur later.