Obsession 2

Chapter 6- Bone Chilling

We pull up to the cabin just as the sun is starting to set, making it hard to see much of anything. It doesn't run on power, so I can't turn on a light. I only hope Sammy is in his right mind when I see him. I don't think I can take looking into his eyes and seeing nothing but pure evil, the way I did the night he killed Olivia. Sometimes though, that night replays in nightmare form, in graphic detail. I wake up in a cold sweat, breathing as if I'd just ran a marathon.

Unfortunately, this isn't just a nightmare. It's real life. My brother really does have something living inside him...like a succubus- controlling his thoughts an actions, as if he's a puppet.

"When is the last time you checked on him?" Kai asks as we make our way to the front door.

"It's been a few days. I don't want to risk anyone following me out here and finding him," I answer.

We walk in and I curse under my breath when I see the mess Sammy's made of the place. There's broken glass everywhere, probably from the shattered window next to the door. Pictures, books with torn out pages, silverware, lampshades, what's left of the red and orange plaid sofa, are all scattered around.

"Geez, this guy likes to live on the wild side, huh?" Leo laughs nervously.

"What's that smell?" Kai asks, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"It smells like..." I pause and walk into the kitchen. The refrigerator is turned over and spoiled food is everywhere; eggs, milk, cheese, meat. It smells like an animal carcass that's been simmering in the hot sun for days.

"Sammy!" I call out hesitantly.

There's no answer, of course. I didn't expect there would be. He obviously found his way out of here. Who knows where he's at by now?

"From the looks of this place, I'd say he escaped a couple of days ago. Is there anywhere he liked to be? A special place? Maybe somewhere he has happy memories?" Kai asks.

I shake my head, still stunned by his disappearance. I can't say I'm surprised he escaped, but I was really hoping he'd make this easy for me. Just a few days ago, he wanted out of this. Now that I've found a way to help him, he's gone.

Maybe Kai's right. Maybe tasting this kind of power has changed Sammy. Maybe he's not the same guy who carried me two miles on his back when I broke my ankle at the baseball field. He's not the same guy who taught me how to play video games, or how to spar. He's not my brother anymore. This curse, whatever causes it, that's who he is now.

What if he never wants to make things right? What if this is his life now?

"Calm down," Kai says, placing his hand on my shoulder. "We can still find him, but we're going to need some bait."

"Bait? What do you mean?" I ask.

Kai and Leo share a look. "Unless there's a chance your brother is bi, we're going to need a girl," Leo says.

"A girl? What the hell are you talking abut?" I ask in confusion.

"Someone who your brother would consider attractive. Someone he would chase," Kai adds.

"No. No way am I putting someone else in danger like that," I scoff.

"They wouldn't be in danger. We just need to lure Sammy out of hiding," Kai clarifies. "Is there anyone you know of he's attracted to, or maybe had a thing with in the past?"

I think back to all the women who have been in and out of Sammy's life. He never really kept anyone around for long, but there was one girl...

"Sarah Tomlinson," I say, thinking out loud. "He was in love with her since middle school, but she moved away and I don't think Sammy has seen her since. She was my neighbor's niece. I haven't seen her in years, so I have no idea where she is now."

"We don't even need her, just something of hers that would carry her scent. Like a shirt or a hat," Kai says.

"So you're saying...if Sammy picks up her scent, we can lure him out of hiding?" I ask.

Kai nods. "Yes, but using this method is dangerous. Once he has her scent, the urge to mate with her will be strong. Really strong. He may be harder to convince than ever."

"Which means we'll have to injure him," Leo says.

"No! Are you guys crazy?! I'm not letting you hurt my brother!"

"Look, I know what this sounds like, but you'll have to trust me. The only time your brother is going to feel any kind of remorse about what he's done is when he's in pain," Kai shoots back. "If you want your brother back, this might be the only way to do it."

I look between them in disbelief for a few seconds, but then I realize how completely bizarre this situation is. Of course I'm going to have to take extreme measures to get my brother back.

---

"Hey Mikey. What are you doing here?" Sadie asks when she answers the door.

I swallow hard. I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but I've somehow either got to convince her to give me something of Sarah's or tell me where Sarah is. Since I don't want to put Sarah in any actual danger, I think it's best we just leave her out of this completely.

"Hey Sadie. I was wondering if I could barrow a lighter," I say lamely.

She gives me a look as if she can tell right away I'm up to something, but she nods nonetheless. "Yeah, sure. Come in."

While she walks into the kitchen, I quickly look around for Sarah's old room. It's been a while since she lived here, so I'm not even sure if she left anything here. And if she did, would it even still have her scent on it after all this time?

I try the bedroom next to Sadie's which is just off the living room. When I open it, I look around at a mostly empty room. There's a bed, a night stand and a small wardrobe, but other than that, the room is pretty bare. There's a blue cap hanging from the bedpost so I snatch it up and stick it into my back pocket. This will have to do for now.

I hurry back into the living room just before Sadie comes back. "Sorry, no lighter, but I found this box of matches," she says, holding the box up.

"Actually, it's okay. I'll just go buy a lighter," I shrug, backing up to the door. "Anyway, it was good seeing you again."

I quickly turn around and open the door, ready to get the hell out of here.

"Wait."

I stop and turn around, my heart pounding so hard I'm wondering how I'm even still alive.

"You're being weird. Did something happen with your brother?" she asks.

I couldn't hide how nervous I am if I tried, so I won't. Sadie has known me for a long time, so it's pretty easy for her to read me.

"Did you find him?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No. Not yet. This whole situation has got me on edge though. That's probably why I'm being so weird."

Thankfully, she seems to buy it. It's not even a lie, I really am on edge because of this.

"Anyway, I have to get going. I have friends visiting from out of state," I say, giving her a wave before I leave.

I head back over to my house where Kai and Leo are waiting for me. They both stand up when I walk into the house.

"That was fast. Did you find something?" Leo asks.

I take the cap out of my pocket and hold it up. "Will this work?"

Kai takes the cap from me and looks it over before he sniffs it. "It smells good, like shampoo. He could probably pick up her scent from this."

I sigh in relief. "Thank God. So...how do we know if this is going to work?"

"We don't," Kai shrugs. "We have no idea where your brother is. But if he's close enough, he'll pick up her scent, and hopefully, come running."

"And if he doesn't?" I ask.

"Then we go to plan b," Kai says.

"And that is..."

He shrugs. "I guess we'll need to start formulating a plan b."

"We'll have to find him quickly. So plan b might have to be extreme," Leo says. "Every second he's out there, he's a threat to everyone, including himself."

"How extreme are we talking?" I ask.

"We'll start hashing all that out tomorrow," Kai answers. "For now, lets get some rest. Leo and I haven't had a lot of sleep since we came here and I don't know about him, but I'm exhausted."

"I need to call Mara and check on things," Leo says. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Thanks again for letting us stay here, Michael."

"Yeah, no problem," I reply as he's walking away.

After Kai and Leo turn in for the night, I sit at the kitchen table holding Sarah's blue cap in my hands, wondering how any of this is really going to work. Sometimes I feel like this is all just a nightmare and soon, I'll wake up to learn none of it was real.

But I'm not waking up. Because unfortunately, this is real. And my brother's life depends on this stupid cap.

I place it at the center of the table and head upstairs to my bedroom, exhausted after such a long day. Tomorrow, we'll start formulating a plan for when Sammy finally comes back. Hopefully, he'll be willing to make this right and we can easily fix this. I can't imagine he'd fight it if he knew for sure everything could go back to normal.

---

The next morning, I get up early to prepare breakfast for Kai and Leo. It's the least I can do for them since they're taking the time to help me.

When I walk into the kitchen, the first thing I notice is Sarah's blue cap is missing. I look around for any sign that Sammy was here, but there's nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe Kai or Leo took it?

Thinking nothing else of it, I get started on breakfast. I c***k open a few eggs and start scrambling since that's about all I know how to cook. I pop a few pieces of wheat bread into the toaster to go along with it and get started squeezing some fresh orange juice, something mom used to do for us every morning.

"Good morning," Kai says, coming into the kitchen. "Smells good in here. Is that...eggs?" he asks, sniffing the air.

I turn around and smile at him. "Yeah, sorry, I...don't really know how to cook anything other than scrambled eggs and toast."

"I live a bachelor life myself. No judgement here," he smirks. "Not all of us have a wife to cook us a delicious breakfast."

Leo walks into the kitchen and takes a seat at the table next to Kai. "Are you kidding? When have you ever seen Mara cook? I'm the chef in the family."

"You two seem to get along well, despite once being in love with the same girl," I say, setting their plates in front of them.

"It wasn't easy to get here," Kai says. "And I'm sure there are times Leo doesn't fully trust me because of...things I did in the past. Unfortunately, that's the hard part of all this. You'll still remember all the things Sammy did even if no one else does. Even if everything is made right again, you and Sammy will have to live the rest of your lives with this...guilt."

"I help keep Kai on track. He deals with a lot of remorse for the things he did, even though technically, none of that ever happened as far as anyone else knows. He did the right thing. He put Mara first and saved her, and for that, I'll always be grateful. That's what makes our friendship worth it. You and Sammy may have to live with what happened, but you'll also be able to remind each other of how you got through it."

A bone chilling scream rings out from next door and all of us drop or forks to our plates and look around.

When I hear the scream again, I dart up from my chair and head for the door. I run next door to Sadie's house to see the front door standing wide open. I hurry inside and look around.

"Sadie?!" I call out.

I go into the kitchen and gasp when I see a trail of blood leading to the back door. There's shattered glass lying on the floor and a toppled chair, classic signs of a struggle.

I open the back door and look around, but there's no sign of Sadie anywhere.

"Sadie!" I call out again.

I spot the blue cap lying on the ground just a few feet away from the door. I kneel down to pick it up just as Leo and Kai come through the gate that joins my backyard to Sadie's.

"Is everything okay?" Kai asks.

I look at the hat before looking up at him. "I think Sammy took Sadie."

Sorry to leave you on a cliffy! The next update will be on Wednesday! Make sure to come back and find out what happens next!

Thanks for reading!