Shadow of the Beast

A Bloody Mystery

I'd spent a good few hours with William, and I'd found myself drawn to him. I'd never known anyone in my family outside of my mother and aunt, and I guessed that this was what having a grandfather felt like. We spent the time talking about school, and how my aunt was helping me overcome my insecurities, and he'd told me all about the amazing love affair he'd had with his wife, and the emptiness he'd felt since she had passed. 

When the storm had eventually passed, he drove me back to my aunts house, and made me promise to keep in touch. She had thanked him for taking care of me, but something in her tone seemed off, and he'd driven away in a hurry. 

I'd begged her not to tell my mother about what had happened, but she insisted that it was the responsible thing to do as I was in her care. I knew my mother would overreact, and boy did she ever! I could hear her shouting down the phone at my aunt from the other end of the kitchen, and my usually ballsy aunt just stood with the phone pressed to her ear, looking like a child being berated for misbehaving. 

'You let her into the woods By HERSELF??!!' mom shouted. 'are you insane? I trusted you to look after her. There could be wild animals or s****l predators or God knows what else out there! She's 16 dammit!'. My aunt tried to apologize, but then uttered a phrase which set my mother off, although I had no idea why. 

'Billy Wilk. BILLY WILK?! ARE YOU INSANE? I do not want that f*****g man anywhere near my daughter! I will be there in the morning to pick her up! I knew it was a mistake letting you take her. My God Kate, you didn't even think to tell me he still loves around there!'. 

My aunt didn't even try to protest, and when I opened my mouth, she motioned to me to stay quiet. 

'I'm so sorry Celia, I really am. I didn't know. I didn't think she'd bump into him. I'll help her pack everything tonight... See you in the morning.' She hung up the phone and looked sullenly at me. 

I was in shock. Aunt Kate had just given up on me. I'd done nothing wrong, just fainted in the woods and been rescued by a kindly old man, and I was being punished. And why did mom hate him so much? I started to cry, and the anger rose up from my belly. 

'Why didn't you fight for me?' I shouted. 'I don't want to go home, she doesn't understand me! And why does she hate William? He looked after me!' 

'Livvy, I'm sorry, it's just...' she started, but I dint want to hear it. I marched past her and up the stairs to my room, and started angrily throwing my clothes into my suitcase. Aunt Kate had tried to come into my room, but I slammed the door in her face and turned the key. I just wanted to be alone, and the tiredness started creeping up again. I threw the last few items into my suitcase, flopped on the bed, and went to sleep. 

The next morning, my alarm went off as usual. Today, I hit snooze and snuggled deeper under the covers. The second time it went off, I reluctantly stood up and stretched. I was still wearing my running gear from the day before, and I'd had a restless sleep, tossing and turning and sweating all night. Looking down at the white sheets of the bed, I saw a pinkish brown stain where I'd been lying, just around shoulder level. 

'is that... Blood?' I thought to myself. I pulled off my tank top, but couldn't see anything on the black fabric. I brought it closer to my nose and could smell the distinct, coppery smell of blood. I thought William said there was no blood on me when he found me? I pulled off my grey sports bra, and as I turned it around, I saw it. A big smattering of brown, dried blood. I hadn't imagined it, but inspecting myself in the mirror, I saw exactly what William had confirmed - not a scratch on me. 

I didn't have long to ponder over the mystery. I heard the familiar chug of mom's old car, followed by a ringing on the doorbell downstairs. I threw my bloodied clothes into some cold water in the sink, and jumped into the shower to buy myself some time before I needed to face her.